Another Story
by StarShattered
Summary: She didn't have a plan. She just ran. It wasn't surprising she'd tripped up like that. But she supposed Striaton City was a good place to stay for a while, to think. She took a deep breath. Everything was alright, everything was ok. She was lucky the triplets had helped her out like that; it certainly was nice of them. But it was time to help herself—she wasn't done running yet.
1. The Girl and the Eevee

**A/N: This is a story I've been planning out for a while. As it's somewhat slice-of-life, it might seem a little slow at first, but it has an overarching plot that builds up over time. So if you enjoy character interactions, humor, mystery, and a good battle every now and then, well I hope you enjoy the story!**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Girl and the Eevee**

Ice cold rain spouted down from the dark and cloudy sky, and the droplets fell into large puddles littering the muddy forest path below. The heavy rain pelted down on the trees and the figure running between them, who went splashing through the puddles, too rushed to care about how soaked her legs were getting, her eyes filled with fear and desperation, her throat dry from her heavy breathing.

"Ohh," she muttered breathlessly, peering down at the damp, brown ball of fur she cradled in her arms. A feeble whimper of pain sounded from it, nearly breaking her heart. "Hang on, Eevee…"

Up ahead the girl could see the hazy profile of a city looming larger and larger by the second the closer she got, but she just couldn't move quickly enough; she needed a Pokémon Center, and fast. Poison drained away at her Eevee's health, and the poor pup had developed a severe fever during their journey. The girl squeezed her eyes shut, resenting herself for getting them into this mess. But she didn't have long to dwell on her guilt. The sound of her shoes slapping against pavement brought her back to the present; the soft ground had become solid road. She had no idea what city she was in, but it didn't matter. Every city had a Pokémon Center. She just had to find out _where_. She looked around for someone to ask for directions, but the streets were bare; everyone was inside, safe and warm and out of the storm. She had almost given up hope when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye—there was somebody exiting a store up ahead.

"Excuse me!" the girl called out as she ran towards them. She cut through a small park to save time, thinking maybe things were starting to look up. But before she knew it, her foot snagged on a root sticking out from the ground, and she found herself falling forward, her Eevee flying out of her arms. She landed on the ground with a thud, and Eevee landed just out of arm's reach. The figure from the store had noticed, and rushed over to her with his umbrella.

"Are you ok?" he asked, worried. She nodded, pushing herself into a sitting position.

"I'm fine, but my Eevee…" She winced as she tried to move over to it; she had bruised her left arm and ankle, as well as scraped her right knee on the fall. The boy looked over at the Eevee, surprise flashing across his face for a brief moment; he'd never seen an Eevee in real life before. He bent down and scooped it into his arms. "She was poisoned in a battle and got a fever. And the rain is only making it worse and her Poké Ball isn't working," the girl said, trying her best to explain. "I was trying to find the Pokémon Center…" The boy nodded in understanding, pulling out a Poké Ball of his own. In a flash of bright red light he released a Pokémon the girl had never seen before—a strange green monkey with a bush on its head.

"Here, Pansage. Take this." He gently placed the Eevee in its arms. "Bring it to the Center—quickly, but carefully. Nurse Joy will know what to do." The monkey gave a quick nod and ran off.

The boy turned his attention back to the girl. She'd been attempting to brush the dirt off her clothes, though without much success. "You can't quite walk, can you?" he asked. She looked up at him pitifully, shaking her head. He reached a hand out to her and helped her onto her feet. "Hold on to me, ok? I'll help you to the Center." She did as she was told, clinging onto his shoulders for support so she wouldn't put pressure on her left ankle.

"Is this ok?" she asked, noticing him struggling to hold her steady along with his umbrella and grocery bags. He nodded, almost losing hold of the umbrella handle. "Are you sure?"

"I can handle it. Don't worry." And with that, he began to lead her forward. The trip was mostly a silent one; the girl was too busy worrying about her Eevee (and her own bruises) to want to talk. The day had turned out far worse than she had expected.

Nurse Joy was waiting for them once they reached the center. She took the girl by the arm and guided her into the infirmary in the back, leaving the boy alone in the lobby. Feeling somewhat relieved, he turned to his Pansage, who was sitting up on the counter of the front desk.

"Thanks," he said, patting it on the head. "You were a great help." The Pokémon grinned as if to say it was no problem. He called it back into the Poké Ball and put it away again. The boy let out a sigh, crossing his arms behind his head as he often did, and made his way to the waiting area; it was all he could do now, sit and wait.

Twenty minutes later, Nurse Joy emerged from the infirmary.

"How is she?" the boy asked, standing up quickly.

"She took quite a fall," the nurse answered. "It was nothing serious enough to need crutches, but she'll need to stay here for the night." Seeing the expression on the boy's face, she added, "But don't worry; your friend will be just fine."

"Um, actually, we, er, just met," he told her, smiling sheepishly.

"Oh I see." She nodded in understanding. "But you will come back tomorrow morning, won't you?" asked Nurse Joy. "I'd like to have someone to release her to."

"Oh—um, yes, of course." She smiled in gratitude at his response, and with that, he bade the nurse good night and proceeded on his way home.

* * *

The boy pushed his way through the front door, setting his bags down in the entryway and setting his umbrella up to dry against the wall. He put a hand on his head and let out a sigh.

"Well _there _you are, Cilan!"

Cilan looked up to see his flame-headed brother striding towards him. "Hi, Chili," Cilan grinned nervously. "I'm, er, back."

"It certainly took you long enough," another voice spoke, its owner directing his cool gaze upon his triplet. He tilted his head, his blue hair surrounding it in waves. "You had us worried. I was beginning to regret sending you out in that storm."

"Oh, it really wasn't that bad," chuckled Cilan. "I'm fine." He pulled down his hood and ran a hand over the grass-like tufts of his green hair, hanging up his coat as Chili retrieved the grocery bags.

"Good thing we didn't have him get ice cream," he told Cress, peering into the paper bags. To Cilan he added, "You are now the slowest brother of all of us." Cilan strained an ashamed smile as he followed his brothers into the kitchen.

"What took you so long?" Cress asked him. "And why are the bottoms of these bags damp?"

"I had to set them down…"

"Why?" Chili asked, looking at Cilan like he was some sort of idiot. "It's _raining_." Cilan sighed and proceeded to recount to his brothers his strange encounter with the girl and her Eevee.

"An _Eevee_?" Chili repeated in disbelief. "Those aren't from here!"

"She must be from another region," Cress remarked. Cilan nodded.

"She's staying at the Pokémon Center for now, and I'm going to, um, go get her tomorrow," he said.

"And then what will you do?" Cress prompted. Cilan looked at him questioningly.

"Do you know where she lives, or where she's going, or anything?" Chili asked.

"Well, um, no. We didn't, uh, have much of a conversation." He shrugged. "I suppose I'll just find out tomorrow."


	2. After the Rain

**Chapter 2: After the Rain**

The next morning was a bright and sunny one, and all signs of the prior day's rain had evaporated into thin air. When Cilan reached the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy greeted him a cheery good morning and went to retrieve the girl from her room. Within moments the nurse had returned to the lobby, the girl tailing along behind her. As Nurse Joy entered the treatment area to retrieve Eevee, the girl waited patiently beside the door. Cilan watched her curiously, able to see her properly for the first time. She ran her hands through her long ice blue hair, tucking loose strands behind her ears in a distracted manner. She peered through the doorway, her skirt rippling around her knees as she shuffled to get a better look. There was a small bark, and the girl's face lit up into a huge smile as Nurse Joy walked out with Eevee in her arms.

"Here you are!" Nurse Joy handed over the Eevee, and the girl gave it a quick squeeze. "Its Poké Ball is working now, right?" Joy asked. The girl nodded.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy," she said gratefully. "We feel much better now."

"Eeevee!" the Pokémon added in support.

"Oh it was my pleasure," Nurse Joy said. "You know it's not every day we see an Eevee in these parts." She rubbed the Eevee on its head, and the Pokémon licked her hand in response, earning a giggle from the pink haired nurse. "It's very cute!" Joy beamed. There was the soft sound of a person clearing their throat and the nurse turned around to see Cilan waving at them awkwardly. "Oh, yes," the nurse chuckled, embarrassed at having been so easily distracted from her work. "Your friend came to get you." Thanking the nurse once again, the girl headed over to Cilan and the two of them left the building together.

"I never got to tell you how thankful I am for you helping me yesterday," the girl began shyly after a moment, cradling her Eevee in her arms.

"It was no problem at all," Cilan responded amiably. "My name is Cilan, by the way."

"Oh, right," the girl said; she'd forgotten all about introductions. "My name's Celeste," she said, looking over at him with a smile; he saw that her eyes were the same color as her hair, an icy light blue, though still quite warm. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud grumbling, startling the poor Pokémon in Celeste's arms. "Sorry Eevee!" she apologized quickly, her cheeks growing red with embarrassment.

"You haven't eaten yet I see? Or, um, hear," Cilan chuckled. Celeste shook her head sheepishly. "Come on. I know the perfect place to go."

"Oh you don't have to do that," Celeste said, surprised by his generosity.

"No it's fine. I'll show you." He led her through the city and over to a large building with large pillars in the front. She stared up at them, intimidated by their size and regality. With a smile of amusement Cilan began walking up the stairs, beckoning her to follow.

"Really? This place?" she asked uncertainly, following Cilan through the door. Inside was a very posh restaurant with maroon and crimson carpeting and fancy round dining tables spread about. The waiters appeared to be busy serving brunch to several patrons, but two servers promptly greeted Celeste and Cilan nonetheless.

"Celeste, these are my brothers, Chili and Cress," Cilan told her. "Chili, Cress, this is Celeste."

"So this is the girl, huh Cilan?" Chili asked with an innocent grin. "Nice to meet you!" he said as he shook her hand heartily.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Cress spoke, taking her hand in a cordial shake. They led her over to a table and bowed. "Please, take a seat." Celeste blinked at the table hesitantly, realizing she was unable to refuse the offer. She took her seat without complaint, placing her Eevee in the seat next to her.

"What would you like to eat?" Chili asked, pen and notepad at the ready. "Would you like the cheese strata?" Celeste stared at him blankly.

"Perhaps you would prefer the herb frittata?" Cress suggested. "We also serve a delectable quiche." The two continued to name some of their finest dishes, but Celeste was nothing but confused. Cilan chuckled as he watched his brothers try to impress yet another first-time customer by using fancy names for their rather simple dishes. He shook his head amused and headed into the kitchen.

"N-no, thanks," Celeste answered, slightly overwhelmed. "There's no way I can afford any of this."

"Don't worry," Cilan said as he returned. "It's on the house!" He set down a steaming platter before her. "Apple butter pancakes and a potato bake."

"Did you just make those now?" Chili asked, surprised.

"Huh? Oh, no," Cilan said. "I made these before I left. Lane finished them up for me."

"And our Poffins just finished a few minutes ago as well," Cress added; he had gone over to check on the pastries when Cilan brought his dishes to the table. "Just a moment!" After a few seconds, Cress had brought over a bowl of small, freshly prepared berry Poffins, placing it on the table in front of Eevee. Eevee's eyes widened as it took in the sight of the pink pastries. It took an eager bite and practically squealed in joy. Seeing her Pokémon's excitement, Celeste tentatively picked up a fork and took a bite of her own meal.

Celeste's eyes went wide. She swallowed slowly and stared down at the dish.

"Is, uh, something wrong?" Cilan asked nervously. "If you, um, don't like it—"

"It's delicious!" she exclaimed. She squeezed her eyes shut as she took another bite. "Mhm! It's so _good_!" The three brothers exchanged surprised glances as Celeste seemingly grew more ecstatic with every bite she took. They backed away from the table slowly to let her eat in peace.

Chili blinked. "_Well_ then."

"She obviously knows fine cooking when she tastes it," Cress remarked proudly.

"It's not like you were the one who made it," Chili frowned. Cress huffed.

"Regardless," Cress said. "Cilan is just as good of a cook as I am. Isn't that right, Cilan?"

"Right…" Cilan nodded slowly as he continued to watch Celeste, who was animatedly urging Eevee to try a piece of the potato bake. _I've never_ _seen anybody so excited about my cooking before,_ he thought. He was always pleased to see a customer enjoying his dish, but he'd never seen one as thrilled as Celeste. It was almost as if she hadn't eaten in days.

"Hello? Earth to Cilan?" Cilan snapped out of his thoughts to find Chili waving a hand frantically in front of his face.

"What? What happened?" he asked, completely lost.

"We completely lost you for a moment," Cress stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh, um, really now?" Cilan said. He put a hand behind his head and forced a cheesy smile. "Well you found me right?" Ignoring Cress' groan, Cilan took another glance in Celeste's direction. "Oh, look," he pointed out. "She's done!" He recomposed himself and hurried off to her table. Chili and Cress watched him suspiciously as he spoke to her.

"So you two liked it I see?" he asked the girl and the Pokémon.

"Oh, definitely! You cooked this?" Celeste asked curiously.

"The pancakes and bake, yes, but both my brothers and I made the Poffins." Eevee let out a small bark of approval at this.

"Well Eevee certainly liked the Poffins," Celeste chuckled. "And," Celeste smiled shyly. "I really liked my dish. I haven't had a meal like that in a long time… Thank you…" Cilan blushed involuntarily, and he likely would've just stood there like that if his brothers hadn't strolled over.

"Everything's alright over here then?" Cress asked. He and Chili gave Cilan curious looks. Cilan looked away quickly, just then aware of how red his cheeks must have been.

"I'll just, um, take these away now," he excused himself, picking up the dishes and quickly retreating into the kitchen. When he was finally behind the safety of the double doors, he let out a breath and smiled to himself. "You're welcome…"


	3. Stunted Stories Steeped in Tea

**Chapter 3: Stunted Stories Steeped in Tea**

During the lull between lunch and dinner, when the restaurant was closed and the brothers had some time to themselves, they decided to take Celeste on a short tour of their establishment. They had already shown her around the kitchen—

"You mean this thing is for washing dishes?" she'd asked curiously, examining the large metal box of a commercial dishwasher they had in the back.

"Yes it is," Cress had affirmed. "Scald, Bubble, and Soak, as I always say."

—and around the rest of the café, so of course they had saved the best for last.

There were three sets of double doors that led out of the dining area; one for the kitchen, one for their residential quarters that also led up to the second and third floors, and one other which the triplets and their new acquaintance now stood before.

"You ready?" Chili asked. Celeste nodded, curious to know what it was behind those doors that was so special. The brothers pushed open the doors and Celeste gasped in surprise; inside was, of all things, a large open battlefield and a spectator's balcony.

"A gym," she spoke. She walked out into the middle of the field and gazed around in awe. "I've never been to an actual gym before. No wonder your building is so fancy…" She turned to the triplets with a look of admiration. "Which one of you is the gym leader?"

"All three of us!" Chili pumped his fist into the air. "I fight with Fire type!"

"My specialty is Water type," Cress stated, holding his palms out.

"And I like Grass type," Cilan said, crossing his arms behind his head as he beamed.

"Wow," Celeste whispered. "I'm going to have to challenge each of you." She paused before adding, "When I have more Pokémon, that is."

"Oh?" Cilan asked curiously. "Is Eevee your, uh, only Pokémon right now?"

Celeste nodded. "I haven't exactly started my journey yet…" she admitted wearily. "It's…a rather long story."

"Would you like to join us for tea?" Cress asked. "You can tell us a little about it." He and his brothers led Celeste into the back hallway and into the tearoom. She thanked them quietly and took a seat on a cushion around a small table. She gazed up around the room while the triplets went around preparing the tea. It was nice and bright from the sunlight filtering in through the large window in the back; she quite liked it.

"So," Chili began as he heated the teapot. "Tell us a little about yourself."

"Oh, um, well I just moved to Unova from Kanto…" Celeste said.

"To Striaton City?" Cilan asked, adding in the tea leaves.

"Yeah. I just got here yesterday," she said. "When you found me," she added, nodding her head towards Cilan. "As you can probably tell I haven't really familiarized myself with this place yet…" They didn't blame her; it was a fairly large city.

"What exactly happened to you yesterday?" Cress asked.

Celeste tilted her head. "What do you mean?" Cress poured the water into the pot before looking over at her.

"I mean we heard a little from Cilan," he said, "but what of before that?"

"Yeah, that's a good question," Chili said, leaning back against the counter as he let the tea steep. "Why were you running in the rain?" he asked incredulously.

"Well…we were headed over here from Accumula Town, where…my parents were taking care of some business," she began slowly, weighing the words on her tongue. "I told them I wanted to do some training and get to our new house and…I told them it would help me get to know the area better." She paused, embarrassed by how ironic that sounded. She gratefully accepted a cup of tea before continuing. "We were about halfway through Route 2 when a trainer stopped me asking for a battle…"

_"Is that an Eevee? It's so cute!"_

_"Oh. Thanks."_

_"Do you want to battle?" The trainer flashed Celeste a bright smile, unclipping a Poké Ball from her belt, clearly eager to begin. _

_Celeste shuffled uneasily. "No thanks," she answered, and the trainer's smile immediately turned into a disappointed frown. "We're kind of busy right now and I can't really stop for a battle." Celeste could feel the blush rising in her cheeks, but she couldn't just send Eevee into a battle; neither Pokémon nor trainer was adequately prepared._

_"Please?" the trainer asked with a slight pout. "It'll be really quick! I just wanted to test out a new Pokémon I caught. I was hoping we could go easy on each other."_

_A wave of relief washed over Celeste. "Oh, well that sounds fine. Sure, I'll battle you."_

Celeste frowned at the memory. It was best the triplets didn't know about that part of the conversation. "She sent out this adorable little electric Pokémon," she continued, skipping right to the battle. "I forget what it was called, but it could fly…"

"An Emolga, perhaps?" Cress suggested.

"Yes, that's it," Celeste nodded. "Everything was going fine…"

* * *

"Emolga! Double Team!" The Sky Squirrel quickly obliged, leaping up into the air, its entire body glowing white. It threw out its arms, creating four copies of itself, and the five duplicates surrounded the Eevee and began to spin around it until it was impossible to tell which one was the real one.

"Tackle now!" Celeste yelled. Eevee rushed forward at one of the floating Emolgas—and right through the imitation. "Sorry!" Celeste called to her Pokémon. "I meant Tackle…now!" This time Eevee's attack hit the real Emolga, pushing it back towards its trainer, its copies vanished. The trainer smirked.

"Fling, Emolga!" To Celeste's surprise the Electric-type took out a large purple orb, and before she knew it Emolga had tossed it into the air and whacked it hard with its tail, sending the ball speeding through the air and bashing Eevee right in the face. Eevee let out a pained shriek as she was knocked backwards into a tree.

"Eevee!" Celeste started to run over to her Pokémon, but the other trainer stepped in her way, waggling her finger in front of her face. Celeste took out Eevee's Poké Ball to retrieve the Pokémon but the trainer easily kicked it out of her hand and crushed it underfoot.

"I don't think so." The trainer narrowed her bright blue eyes. "I don't think this poor Pokémon deserves to be treated in such a terrible manner. I shall liberate it by taking it away from its menace: you."

Celeste gaped at her opponent, flustered. "But _you_ did that to my Eevee!"

"Tsk. Emolga use Electro Ball!" Celeste saw the little squirrel's tail begin emitting sparks that quickly formed into a bright yellow ball of electricity. With a flourish the Emolga fired the orb towards her, and she scrambled to get out of the way, but it was no use. She screwed her eyes shut as she prepared for the impact. It never came.

There was a shrill cry as Eevee was hit by the full attack; the Pokémon had managed to make its way back over to its trainer, leaping into the air to protect her, and Celeste watched in horror as electricity shot through Eevee's body. The other trainer gritted her teeth.

"How did you get over there?" she snarled, her orange hair falling over her eyes as Eevee fell to the ground. Celeste ran over to her injured Pokémon to check on it; small sparks of electricity emanated from its body, which glowed purple with poison. She looked around to see where its Poké Ball had landed, and upon locating it quickly snatched up Eevee and ran over to grab it and keep running. "Emolga stop them—!" The trainer's eyes widened when she noticed her Emolga lying poisoned on the ground—she'd let it hold the Toxic Orb too long.

"Plaaaaasmaaa!" Celeste heard the girl curse out; a crash of thunder drowned out the rest of the girl's words, but Celeste was more than certain she wouldn't have wanted to hear them.

Celeste felt a drop of something wet land on her hand, and as she peered up at the darkening sky another drop landed on her face. It started to rain, and it only took a few seconds for it to build into a downpour. Eevee groaned in pain, still flashing with sparks, and though Eevee's low whines were drowned out by the loud roar of thunder, they were the only sounds that mattered to Celeste at the moment. As such, she didn't notice as lightning split through the gray clouds, and let out a high pitched scream as the lightning bolt connected with a tree to their right. Her eyes filling with fear she began to run even faster, clutching Eevee close to her chest, hoping desperately that she'd find a Pokémon Center soon.

* * *

"And you just ran all the way here to where I found you?" Cilan asked in shock.

Celeste peered down into her empty teacup. "I didn't have another choice," she muttered.

"You had a terrible night!" exclaimed Chili, nuzzling Eevee against his face—he'd been holding her for the duration of the story. Eevee, for her part, barked in agreement. "Oh you're so soft!" Chili cooed, snuggling her closer to him. "But you're ok now. Right?" This he directed to Celeste.

"Yeah," she smiled gently. "Cilan found me, and I got to stay at a Pokémon Center, and now I'm here with all of you. Funny how these things work out." She twirled her spoon around in the empty teacup, a distant expression on her face. Cilan found himself nodding slowly in agreement as he watched the spoon's motion with a vague interest.

"I'm glad," he said. "It's nice to meet someone new every once in a while."

"It's nice to meet someone so cute!" Chili gushed, his eyes squeezed shut as he cuddled Eevee more. "Yes it is! Yes it is!"

"Yes, it is," Cress smirked knowingly. "Isn't it, Cilan?" Cilan gave his brother a strange look; Cress was always the hardest to read, so it wasn't easy to tell what he was thinking, but one look at the mad grin on Chili's face told him everything he needed to know.

"Um, well, yes," Cilan stammered, growing redder by the second. "I, um, suppose it is, uh—" A tapping at the door interrupted the conversation—to Cilan's great relief—and a waitress peered into the room.

"What is it, Tia?" Chili asked her.

"There's a trainer here who wants to battle with you," she said. "He's waiting in the gym right now."

"Alright!" Chili exclaimed, jumping to his feet. There was a sharp yarp and in horror Chili realized he'd dropped Eevee in his excitement. Eevee growled slightly from her hold in Celeste's arms, where she'd been forced to leap to during the fall. "Sorry!" Chili apologized quickly to the Pokémon and her trainer. "I just got really excited. Now you get to see us in action!"

"You shouldn't get so excited yet," Cress advised him. He motioned everyone out into the hallway and together they headed over to the gym. "We can only wonder which one of us he'll go up against," he said.

"Either way," Cilan began cheerfully, "one thing is for sure..."

Celeste watched with curiosity as the gym leaders walked up to the doors of the gym floor, snapped their fingers, and struck a pose. She gave Tia a puzzled look, but the waitress could only shrug.

"What can I say?" Tia whispered to her, stifling a giggle. "They have a certain way of doing things." She winked. "At least I don't have to watch it alone." And so they watched as the triplets exclaimed in unison:

"It's showtime!"


	4. The First Gym Battle

**Chapter 4: The First Gym Battle**

"So all three of you are the gym leaders?" the trainer asked after the brothers had given their introduction.

"That would be correct," Cress answered.

The trainer smoothed down his blue hair nervously. "Do I have to battle all of you to get the badge…?" he asked them, slightly confused.

"No way!" Chili laughed. "You only have to battle one of us! It all depends on what you picked as your starter Pokémon." The trainer nodded at this, grateful for a proper explanation. Celeste, on the other hand, was only further mystified by it. How were they supposed to determine who fought the challenger based on starter Pokémon? Tia, who was standing next to her, noticed her confused expression and chuckled.

"I was just as confused as you were when I first heard how they work this gym," she told Celeste sympathetically. "But you'll figure it out soon enough."

"I hope so," Celeste said, smiling meekly. The two girls heard Chili groan loudly and Cress let out a small sigh; the trainer had started out with an Oshawott, and Cilan appeared to be the one who was going to battle against him.

"Well, I should be getting back to work now," Tia said. "Celeste, right?" She gave her a wink. "I'll be seeing you around, Celeste! And your little Eevee too!"

Celeste waved at the waitress as she left before turning her attention back to the battle floor. Cilan had gone over to the other side of the gym and taken his stand, so Celeste followed Chili and Cress to the halfway point at the side of the field, where Chili would be refereeing.

"So…" she began. "Whoever the trainer's starter Pokémon is weak against is the one who fights against them?"

"You got it," Chili grinned, giving her a thumbs up as he lined himself up with the middle of field.

"Move over three more spaces," Cress told him.

"Goodness…" Chili muttered under his breath. He shuffled over slightly then looked over at his brother in exasperation. "Better?"

Cress chuckled. "Much better."

"But…" Celeste bit her lip; she didn't want to delay the battle, so she refrained from further questioning. She knew they were referring to the Grass-, Water-, and Fire-type starters that each region had, but did they really expect every trainer to have one?

"Ok! This battle has a limit!" Chili was telling the trainer. "One Pokémon only: your starter." Celeste tilted her head to the side in surprise. _I guess they do_ _expect that,_ she thought.

Unlike Celeste, the trainer was taking the news in stride. "Sure thing," he said, a look of determination on his face.

"Ready?" Cilan asked. The trainer nodded.

"Go, Oshawott!" He thrust his Poké Ball up into air, and in a flash of bright light the Sea Otter Pokémon emerged from the ball and landed on the ground with a grin.

"Wott!" it said proudly. Celeste couldn't help but notice that the Oshawott's fur matched its trainer's hair. She wondered if he'd done that on purpose. _Probably not,_ she thought; that would just be silly.

"Come on out, Pansage!" Cilan released his own Pokémon onto the rocky field. It smiled confidently at the Oshawott, ready to battle.

Celeste bounced Eevee in her arms. "Pay close attention, ok?"

"Vee!"

"Start!" Chili exclaimed. The trainer ordered his Oshawott to Tackle Pansage. Cilan's Pokémon dodged it with ease and retaliated with Bullet Seed, which hit the otter with full force. Celeste watched as the two Pokémon went back and forth, her eyes wide with curiosity; she'd never seen a gym battle in real life before.

Pansage managed to hit Oshawott twice with Fury Swipes before the otter cut in with another Tackle.

"Vine Whip, Pansage!"

Slender green vines struck out at the Oshawott, flinging it backwards into a rock. The trainer gritted his teeth as he watched his Pokémon wince. The otter shook its head and growled, refusing to give up.

"That's the spirit, Oshawott! Keep going!"

"Osha-wott!" It took a deep breath, yellow lights surrounding it briefly as it used its Focus Energy. It rushed at the Pansage, leaping into the air, only just dodging its swiping paws. Pansage snarled and turned to face his opponent, only to be met by a forceful shot of water that sent him flying into the air. Cilan gasped as Pansage landed on the ground with a loud thud. It looked up and panicked when it saw the Oshawott coming down to deal a Razor Shell.

"Dodge! Dodge it!" Cilan ordered. Pansage rolled to the side and flipped into the air, Oshawott's sharpened scalchop just barely missing the leaves on its head, and Cilan let out a sigh of relief.

"Wott," Oshawott grumbled. It turned around in frustration only to get hit it on the nose by a tiny seed. It yelped as the seed sprouted vines that promptly wrapped around its body. The vines glowed red and the otter screeched in pain as they leeched away his energy. Pansage took this opportunity to charge at it with its sharp claws. The trainer narrowed his eyes; he had to time this just right.

"Water Gun!"

"Pan?" Just as the monkey attacked, it was met face first with the strong jet of water, which pushed it back across the battlefield. The trainer grinned—Pansage's Fury Swipes had freed Oshawott from the parasitic vines without landing a full blow. His plan had worked.

_You can use the opponent's attack to your advantage!_ Celeste made a mental note to herself, amazed by the trainer's cleverness.

Pansage was also impressed, if somewhat irked, and it glowered as Oshawott charged at it in a Tackle. It jumped aside and bit down on the Water-type with its sharp teeth, causing it to flinch. Pansage grinned triumphantly as it chomped down on Oshawott. It prepared to use a close-range Fury Swipes, but never got the chance. A powerful blow from the scalchop quickly knocked it aside. Oshawott leapt back, breathing heavily as it eyed its opponent, who was now lying slumped on the ground.

"Pansage?" Cilan called out to his Pokémon. Pansage winced as it attempted to stand up, but it was too worn out, and fell back to the ground in exhaustion.

"Aw man! Good fight!" Chili yelled. Cress cleared his throat.

"That's not exactly what you're supposed to say," he lectured his brother patiently. Chili rolled his eyes and lifted a hand.

"This battle's winner is…" Chili paused for a moment. "Hey," he yelled over to the trainer. "What's your name anyway?" Cress slapped his palm against his forehead, but the trainer laughed, relieved.

"Austin," he said. "My name is Austin."

"Ok then! This battle's winner is challenger Austin! Good job!"

While Cress chastised Chili for his poor refereeing skills on the sidelines, the trainers on the gym floor went up to their Pokémon to see how they were doing.

"Hey, Oshawott," Austin said with a grin. "Thanks a lot. You did great."

"Osha?" Oshawott gave its trainer a weary smile. Austin patted it on its head.

"Yeah. Really great. Take a nice, long rest, ok?" He pressed the button on its Poké Ball and a red laser shot out to retrieve the triumphant Pokémon.

"Are you alright, Pansage?" Cilan asked his Grass-type. It nodded with a small smile. "You were great out there. Every loss is another step towards improvement, right?" It nodded in agreement. Cilan returned it to its Poké Ball and went over to his challenger. "That was a really good fight you put up back there," he told him, shaking his hand.

"Thanks," Austin said.

"Here," Cress said, walking up to the trainer with his hand held out. In his palm was a shiny jagged badge, with a design of three diamonds—blue, red, and green—stacked one on top of the other. "This is the Trio Badge," Cress stated. "You have rightfully earned it." Celeste gazed at it in awe as Austin took it proudly.

"My first badge," he spoke with a satisfied sigh. He put it in his badge case and polished it slightly. "There."

"Nacrene City's gym leader, Lenora, is next up on your list," Chili told him.

"I guess that's where I'm headed then," Austin said, taking one last look at his badge case before tucking it away again. It was at this point he noticed the Eevee in Celeste's arms. "Who's _that_ Pokémon?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, this is Eevee," Celeste told him. "She's not from this region. They're usually found in Kanto."

"Yeah? I've heard of Kanto before," he said. He nodded for a bit, eyeing Eevee hesitantly before finally asking, "Can I pet it?" Celeste looked down at Eevee, who nodded in approval.

"Sure!" Celeste giggled as the boy stroked Eevee's fur, his face lighting up.

"Wow, it's really soft," Austin said in surprise. "…Heh, I-I guess I should get going now." He lifted his hand off the Eevee's back awkwardly before stuffing it into his pants pocket. He had begun to turn to leave when Celeste realized something.

"Hold on," she said. Austin stopped and looked over at her questioningly. "How old are you?"

"Thirteen. Why?"

"Are you just starting your journey now?" Celeste asked, perplexed. "I mean…you're our age…"

"Yeah I'm just starting." Austin grinned. "Personally, I didn't _want_ to start on my tenth birthday." He shrugged. "I didn't really think I was ready back then. You see I really want to become an Ace Trainer someday."

"Are you going to learn how to use a whip?" Celeste asked.

Austin blinked. "What?"

"I once saw trainers with whips." As soon as she had said it she began to regret it. "They said they were Cool…" This time even the triplets had to give her strange looks. "Never mind…" she mumbled. Austin chuckled.

"Anyways I gotta go," he said. He turned to the gym leaders with an appreciative nod. "Thanks for the badge." And on that note he bid them farewell.

"Good luck, Austin!" Celeste called after him once he reached the door.

Austin turned back with a smile, lifting a hand in the air to wave back one last time. "Thanks! I'll take all the luck I can get!"

Celeste smiled to herself as he stepped out of the gym. She wished him the best on his journey; he seemed like a really nice guy, and it would be nice to meet him again someday and see how far he'd come.

_Although I guess I probably won't see him again_, she thought._ It's not like I'm going on a journey._ And then another, much more troubling thought came to mind. She glanced over at the triplets; Chili and Cress were commending Cilan for his battling—though Chili seemed to think he could've done better—so for the moment Celeste could wear her distress plain on her face. _I don't know _what _I'm going to do now._


	5. Thinking of Home

**Chapter 5: Thinking of Home**

Celeste gazed at her dismayed reflection in the bathroom mirror and sighed. Nightfall would be upon them soon, and she found herself in a bit of a predicament.

_I don't have anywhere to stay,_ she thought forlornly. She put a hand to her forehead. _I really should have come up with a better plan before I left._ She'd been so careful planning her escape, but never considered what she would do afterwards. It had seemed so irrelevant back then. Shaking her head, she pushed away those upsetting thoughts and turned her attention to the problem at hand. She couldn't just stay in Unova and camp outside every night like a normal trainer. For one, she didn't have any supplies. But more importantly, it was just too risky for her to camp outside every night, or worse, to actually journey around Unova. She could get caught, taken back.

"I don't want to go back…" she murmured. She briefly considered staying at the Pokémon Center before deciding against it; those accommodations were meant to be used for only a couple of nights, not for long-term. And she _definitely_ couldn't ask the triplets if she could stay with them—not only would it be awkward seeing as they'd just met, but it would also be extremely suspicious. _But it is the easiest option, _she thought. _And probably the safest too. _She mulled over the idea. _Maybe… For one night…_ She nodded her head, trying to reassure herself of the idea as she exited the bathroom and went out into the hallway to find the three brothers.

"She should evolve it into a Flareon," she heard Chili suggesting as she neared.

"No way," Cress said defensively as he cuddled the Eevee. "A Vaporeon would be a much better choice."

"And I'm sure Cilan's going to say it should be a Leafeon," Chili responded drily. Cilan smiled sheepishly.

"Um, actually…" he began.

"I'm back!" Celeste called as she came up to them.

"Here you go," Cress said, handed over her Eevee. "She's really nice to hold," he added, petting Eevee on the head.

"Yeah, I know," Celeste chuckled. "But…there's something I wanted to ask you three…"

"Ask away!" Chili grinned.

"Do you think…I could stay here for the night?" she asked nervously. The brothers exchanged looks of surprise and Celeste could feel her cheeks burn hotly. "It's just for tonight," she found herself saying meekly. "I hope it's not too much to ask… I forgot to bring the keys to our new house when I headed over here. My parents won't be here till tomorrow morning, and I have no way of contacting them…" At least she had a somewhat proper excuse.

"Of course you can stay here," Cress told her graciously. "We have a spare room you can sleep in."

"Thank you," Celeste smiled, relieved. That was much easier than she had expected.

"In fact, why don't I show you where it is right now?" Cress offered. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder lightly and Cilan couldn't help but feel a strange sense of jealousy as he watched him lead her away. Cress paused to look back at his brothers. "It's getting close to dinnertime," he told them. "You should probably head over to the kitchen." He flashed them a smug grin before turning away again. "Don't wait up for us."

"Well, dang," Chili muttered bitterly when they were out of sight. "He's smooth… Getting her all alone to himself like that… I could've done that…"

"Um… Done what, exactly?" Cilan asked, confused.

"Dude." Chili shook his head in disbelief. "Celeste is _cute_. And right now Cress has the upper hand with her." He rolled his eyes at Cilan's shocked expression. "You can't tell me you haven't taken a liking to her."

"But…But we just met her!" Cilan protested, absolutely baffled.

"Yeah, and? Now come on," Chili said, walking away. "I'm not going to be forced to do all the cooking by myself, you know."

Hesitant to follow, Cilan glanced back at the direction Cress and Celeste had left in, a regretful look on his face.

"Cilan! Come on!" yelled Chili from the end of the hall.

"Ok, ok!" Cilan sighed and reluctantly went to follow his brother to the kitchen.

* * *

"It's right through here." Cress opened the door and motioned Celeste inside. She stepped through shyly and looked around. It was a small bedroom with a single window on the far wall, empty except for the basic bed and dresser. Celeste lowered Eevee to the floor and watched as she hopped up onto the mattress. "It may not be much, but it'll certainly do for one night," Cress assured her.

"Thank you again," she said. She walked further inside, reviewing her surroundings. "I think it's a nice room…" Cress nodded as she turned to him.

"I'm glad you think so," he said. "Now I really should be getting to the kitchen so I'll leave you to get situated. But please, if there's anything else you need, don't hesitate to ask." He gave a swooping bow, much to her surprise. As he righted himself, he added, "It's my pleasure to serve you." He backed out of the room with a small smile, leaving her blushing shyly.

_She's extremely cute when she blushes like that,_ he mused, heading back downstairs.

"There you are, Cress!" Chili exclaimed when Cress entered the kitchen. "I know it's only a Monday," he frowned, loading a tray into the oven, "but could you have taken any longer to get here?" Cress smiled mysteriously, saying nothing as he went to find Cilan to fill him in on the orders.

"Oh, you're back," Cilan said, briefly looking up from the salad he was preparing. "So we've got two orders of mushroom fettuccine alfredo—they're working on it already—Custap Berry pudding—it's back there almost done—three Petaya Berry soup—oh actually." Cilan paused, looking around momentarily. "Could you go work on that?"

"Of course. I'll get right on it."

Cress turned to leave when Cilan stammered, "Wait." Cress turned back to his brother to see him slowly withdrawing an outstretched hand. "Never mind…" Cilan muttered. Cress gave him a strange look before heading to the other side of the kitchen to prepare the soup. Cilan had wanted to ask him how Celeste was, but the question felt silly somehow. He shook his head in shame and decided to go check on how the corn was cooking instead.

* * *

The next morning, after asking the brothers for directions to the grocery store, Celeste had gone there herself to see what she could find. After scanning the flyers that were hung up on the bulletin boards inside, she had finally found what she'd been looking for. Now she wandered over to the other side of town with a leaflet in hand, scanning the addresses of houses as she passed, referring to the paper every now and then as she repeated the number in her head. _5630, 5630, 5630…_

"Here it is," she said, stopping in front of a sizable yellow townhouse; 5630, read the numbers beside the door. Taking a deep breath, Celeste walked up the front steps and rang the doorbell. It chimed pleasantly, and it wasn't long before an elderly woman answered the door.

"Good morning, young lady. How can I help you?" she asked courteously.

"Good morning, ma'am," Celeste smiled cheerfully. "I wanted to apply for the live-in housekeeping position you posted up in the grocery store." The lady nodded in recognition when Celeste showed her the paper.

"I see," the lady said, amused. "Are you sure you're fit for the job?"

"Oh yes. I'm very good at all kinds of housekeeping. And it says I'm not required to cook."

"How old are you, dear?"

"I'm thirteen," Celeste replied. She hoped the lady didn't think she was too young for the position. After all, if ten year olds could go traveling on their own then surely thirteen year olds could take up housekeeping.

The old woman gave her a warm smile. "You should be out traveling the world with your Pokémon," she told her. "Not inside cleaning all day."

Celeste rubbed her arm in embarrassment, blushing. "Well I do have one Pokémon," she said. "An Eevee. And she's very well-behaved." The lady chuckled.

"I like you. Please, come on in."

The woman beckoned Celeste inside and led her to the living room, and Celeste was suddenly struck by how _bright _the room was. All the curtains were open wide and sunlight fell across the well-worn, dark wood furniture and floral print couches, draping them in muted shades of gold.

"Glad to see you like your sunlight as much as I do," the old woman noted cheerily. She invited Celeste to take a seat on the couch. "Do you like tea?" Celeste nodded. "Good, good. Just a moment, dear." The lady disappeared through an archway for a moment before coming back with two tiny teacups, handing one to Celeste before settling into an armchair with her own. "I never got your name, dear."

"Celeste."

"Ah. You can call me Joan." She offered her a couple of sugar cubes before continuing. "All you need to do is cleaning," she told her, gesturing around the quaintly furnished living room. "Sweeping, dusting, doing the laundry—that kind of thing. It's really not much, but," she rubbed her hands, "I have a bit of arthritis and it's nice to have someone to help me.

"Now I'm sure you're anxious to know about your pay."

"Oh no, not at all," Celeste said, setting down her cup. "I…was actually more interested in the food and lodging," she admitted shamefully. Joan nodded in understanding, taking a sip of her tea.

"I see," she said. "All the same, I'm sure you'll be pleased with it. Think of your earnings as funds for a journey." Seeing Celeste's surprised expression she continued, "You may even like to travel to a different region. My niece tells me Hoenn is quite nice, though I've never been myself!"

When they had finished their tea, Joan showed Celeste around the house, pointing out what needed to be done where and how often, before finally showing her to her room. "This is where you'll stay." The room was just as bright as the rest of the house, and fitted out quite comfortably; next to the self-explanatory bed stood a nightstand with a lamp, and the room also contained a wardrobe and a dresser, which even had a mirror. Celeste gazed around in awe; she had forgotten how cozy a room could feel. "Is this alright with you, dear?" Joan asked.

"This is wonderful," Celeste said. "Thank you."

"I'll let you get settled for a bit," said Joan with a gentle smile. There was a short pause before she asked, "Did you bring any belongings, dear?"

Celeste slowed to a stop, grateful that Joan couldn't see her shocked expression. "No, I didn't," she spoke quietly after a moment. She turned to Joan with an apologetic look on her face. "I wasn't able to bring anything with me." _And that's the truth,_ she thought somberly. Joan clicked her tongue, her eyes filled with sympathy.

"Oh, dearie, that's alright, that's alright! We'll work something out, ok?"

Celeste nodded, surprised by the generous offer.

"Just take your time to settle in," Joan continued. "But since it's still morning, do you think you could start on a few things later today?"

Celeste beamed. "Of course!"


	6. Service with a Smile

**Chapter 6: Service with a Smile**

"Sweeping high, sweeping low, sweeping fast and sweeping slow, I will sweep-sweep all your troubles away…"

"That sure is a strange song you have there. And you're moving just like a Minccino."

Celeste started in surprise, nearly dropping her broom as she turned to Joan with a vibrant blush on her cheeks. "S-sorry," she apologized meekly.

"Oh no, dearie, you're fine!" Joan laughed. "I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to say you have a very nice singing voice." The well-intentioned comment only made Celeste blush more. Joan shook her head in amusement before going back inside. Celeste took up to sweeping again, this time without singing—or swinging her hips, for that matter. She wasn't used to people outside of her immediate family hearing her sing; she'd always been so shy about it.

_Miss Joan sure is nice about it though,_ she thought with a calmed sigh. She peered through the sliding glass door at the grandfather clock in the living room, glad to see she was making good time; she'd been hoping to visit the triplets that afternoon once she was finished with her responsibilities. It'd been a few days since she had last seen them, and she figured they'd be curious as to how she was settling in.

Setting the broom against the wall, she walked into the kitchen to find Joan eating a Pecha Berry.

"Would you like one?" Joan asked, holding a berry out to her.

"Oh, um, thank you." Celeste accepted the fuzzy fruit graciously and took a bite. It was sweet and juicy, just like she remembered.

Joan leaned back onto the counter, biting into her own berry as she watched Celeste curiously. "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

"Oh. W-well I've finished sweeping the back porch, so I've done all the errands you wanted me to do."

"That's wonderful, dear." Joan smiled. "You're very diligent." Celeste blushed modestly.

"Thanks," she chuckled embarrassedly. "I was wondering…since I'm done with everything…"

"You want to go out for a bit?" Joan guessed. She laughed at Celeste's ashamed expression. "Well of course you can! It's not like I'm just going to keep you in here all day and never let you see the outside world!"

"Right, of course not…" Celeste muttered as she walked over to the door. "I'll be back soon!"

"Take as long as you need, dearie," Joan said. "And don't forget your keys."

"I haven't," Celeste told her, jingling said keys as she left. "See you later!"

* * *

"So you finally got into your house huh?" Chili laughed. "What did your parents say?"

"They would've fretted over me and told me to be more careful next time, but instead I was just reminded to make sure I bring the keys when I leave," Celeste chuckled, holding a hand behind her head.

"Would've?" Cilan asked.

"Yeah," answered Celeste, a small smile on her face. "They didn't this time." Her eyes followed her Eevee's movements around the room as it played with the brothers' elemental monkeys, running around in between the table legs, causing the tablecloths to billow about. The Pokémon had become fast friends, and Celeste couldn't have been any more grateful for that; Eevee hadn't been able to play with other Pokémon very often before, and she hadn't seen her so happy and carefree in a long time.

"You should introduce us to them someday," she heard Cress say. She turned her attention away from the playing Pokémon and back to the conversation at hand.

"My parents? Maybe," Celeste spoke. "They're usually pretty busy so I don't see how that would work."

"They could come eat here," Chili suggested, leaning back in his chair. "And be totally impressed by our cooking skills."

"Chili, you shouldn't lean back in your chair like that," Cress frowned. "You're going to fall over." Chili stuck his tongue out at his brother.

"If they really want to see a crowd they should come in for dinner on a Friday," Cilan told Celeste with a chuckle. "And if they want to _beat _the crowd they should be here by six—that's when we start seating."

Celeste gave him a strange look. "Isn't today Friday? And isn't it almost six?" The triplets blinked at her for a moment before turning to look at the clock: 5:48.

"HOLY TRUBBISH!" Chili yelled, falling backwards in his chair with a thud, much to Cress' dismay.

"We're almost twenty minutes behind!" Cilan gasped, jumping up onto his feet.

"Temptress!" Chili pointed an accusing finger up at Celeste from his place on the ground. "You distracted us!"

"Chili, stop joking around," Cress scolded him. "Now get up. We have to hurry."

"Ok, ok!"

Before Celeste knew it the trio _and _their Pokémon had rushed into the kitchen to prepare, leaving her and Eevee sitting in the dining room, stunned. She and her Pokémon shared a look.

"…Vee?"

"_Did_ I distract them?" Celeste asked back unsurely. "I thought they would've minded the time…"

"Oh, but didn't you hear?" Celeste turned to see Tia walking up to her. The waitress leaned over and nudged her in the arm. "You're the '_temptress_.'" She giggled as Celeste's cheeks reddened. Just then, Cilan peered into the room through the kitchen doors.

"Uh, sorry about leaving you like that," he apologized to Celeste with an awkward grin. "And don't listen to Chili; it's not your fault."

"So she's _not_ your temptress?" Tia asked him. Cilan clamped his mouth shut and frowned at her in annoyance.

"Y-you need to get ready, too, Tia," he told her before retreating back into the kitchen.

Tia put her hands on her hips and sighed. "He's right," she said. "I need to set up the tables." She peered around the room thoughtfully before turning back to Celeste. "Maxwell—he's another waiter who works here—had to call in sick leave today, so I'm going to have a hard time waiting customers on my own," Tia frowned. "Would you be ok with helping me out a little bit? It would be a pretty big help, actually."

"Sure, I don't mind. Are there really that few workers here?" Celeste asked, confused as to the shortage of staff. Tia nodded.

"There's Lane," she began, counting on her fingers. "He works in the kitchen along with Sheila. Jenny runs the front desk. Then there's Maxwell. And then there's me." She held up five fingers. "So yeah, besides the triplets there are only five of us." She frowned slightly. "Actually we're a pretty young group of workers, now that I think about it. Lane's the oldest one here, and he's only 23. And you'll need to follow me, by the way."

"What about the owner?" Celeste asked, beckoning Eevee to follow as they headed out of the dining room.

"You mean the _owners_," Tia corrected her with a grin. "The triplets."

Celeste raised her eyebrows in shock. "_They're_ the owners?"

"Yup. They run the business, cook the food, serve the tables—they do a bit of everything, as well as run the gym," Tia explained. "They put a lot on their plates. No pun intended."

"Oh." Celeste had never imagined they were so busy. _And because of me they're behind schedule,_ she thought. "How do they even handle it all?"

"Well it really isn't _that_ bad," Tia began quickly, sensing Celeste's concern. "I mean, it might sound like a lot, but we're usually closed on Sundays, and Mondays through Wednesdays business is usually pretty slow, so it's…it's really not that bad!"

Celeste let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness... Um, what are you looking for?" She watched Tia quizzically as she peered into a closet. Celeste took a quick look at her surroundings; during their conversation the waitress had led Celeste over to the employee break room, which looked surprisingly comfy for what it was, with its couches and table lamps and flower vases. The triplets really knew how to furnish a room.

"Aha! Here it is," Tia beamed. "Ok then! Put this on." Celeste gasped as Tia pushed a peach-colored waitress outfit identical to her own into her face. "I really have to hurry, so meet me outside when you're ready, ok?" Tia gave her a wink. "If you're going to help out you have to look the part first!" And before Celeste could protest she was gone.

Celeste let out a sigh as she regarded the dress in her hands. _I guess there's no way around it,_ she told herself. She turned to Eevee with a half-hearted smile. "At least it's not a maid outfit, right?"

* * *

When Celeste finished changing she left Eevee in her Poké Ball and went out into the dining room to find Tia. The tables were already set up and the first of the dinner crowd had started filtering into the restaurant. Maybe she had taken too long to change after all.

"Celeste, over here!" Tia called from the front desk. "Don't you look cute," she remarked as Celeste came over. "This is Jenny," she said, introducing her to the receptionist. "I was just telling her about how you'd be helping us tonight!"

"We're really thankful," Jenny smiled.

Celeste blushed modestly. "I just hope I don't mess up."

Jenny laughed. "I'm sure you'll do fine," she assured her. "Tia's going to show you the ropes, but if you ever have any questions feel free to ask me as well."

"Come on, Celeste," Tia grinned, leading her back over to the tables. "It's time to get to work!"

Tia showed Celeste how to lead patrons to their tables and take their orders—

"Service with a smile!" Tia reminded her.

—and get their drinks. After a while of working together, she let Celeste handle tables on her own. Tia did, however, relieve Celeste of the daunting task of carrying the dishes. For the first half of the night anyway.

"Celeste!" Tia called as she skittered over to her. "Could you get the dishes for this table? They're the first two plates on the counter in the kitchen. They've been waiting for a while and I really need to take these orders."

"O-oh, ok," Celeste nodded. With a sigh she made her way over to the kitchen. _It's only two plates, _she reassured herself. _It won't be that hard._ She reached out to push open the doors when they swung open and Cilan hurried out carrying six plates and a bowl on a tray.

"Yes, I'll come back for it!" he yelled back to Chili, and he would have walked right into Celeste had she not dodged to the side at the last moment.

"H-Hey! Watch out!" she gasped between breaths, only now getting the gym leader's attention. She put a hand on her chest and gave him a worried look. "You almost ran into me! You could've dropped your plates!"

"Sorry!" Cilan apologized quickly, his eyes growing wide as he took her in. "I, uh, didn't see you. Wh-what are you wearing?" Celeste suddenly found herself becoming extremely self-conscious, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

"T-Tia told me to wear it," she stammered. "I've been helping her wait tables."

"You've been out here helping all night?" Cilan asked in shock.

"And you're taking all night," Tia spoke as she came up to Cilan. She held out her hands. "If I don't take these dishes now they're going to get cold." Flushed with shame, Cilan handed the tray over to the waitress and she scurried away to get the orders to their respective diners.

"…How do you carry so many plates like that?" asked Celeste, attempting to avoid an awkward moment.

"Oh, it, um, takes a lot of practice," Cilan answered, forcing a grin. "And, er, balance." He chuckled nervously before taking a breath to compose himself. With a gentle smile, he said, "Thanks for helping. You look really nice." Celeste blushed.

"Thanks," she murmured.

"I guess we should be getting back to work, huh?" Cilan laughed. "Maybe Chili was right! You_ are _distracting us!" he teased. Celeste gave a sheepish smile and turned away, going back to check up on the tables. Cilan shook his head and returned to the kitchen, chuckling to himself quietly. "You _are_ distracting us…"


	7. Gone Fishing

**Chapter 7: Gone Fishing**

Several weeks had passed since Celeste had first arrived at Striaton City, and she was finally starting to feel comfortable enough to call it her home. Miss Joan would often take her out to the market to get fresh fruits and vegetables, and she'd managed to familiarize herself with the main streets enough to feel confident strolling through them every morning. The fresh air helped to clear her cluttered mind, allowing her to sift through her thoughts freely as she wandered through town, Eevee trotting along by her side.

"You know," Celeste began, getting her Pokémon's attention, "I was thinking of buying you a Silk Scarf when I get my next paycheck." Eevee yipped, delighted by the idea. "So you think that's a good idea?" Celeste asked her. Eevee nodded eagerly, and Celeste couldn't help but smile. "Maybe try to be a little less biased."

Eevee tilted her head in deliberation, a small frown growing on her face. "Eeev…" She shook her head regretfully.

"Right…" Celeste sighed. She needed to save her money, not spend it. _I'm going to need it for later…_ It had been a nice thought, but Celeste regretted mentioning it aloud. She'd gotten Eevee's hopes up, and now Eevee's ears were drooping with disappointment.

"It's…not like it you need it," Celeste spoke, trying to be positive. "You're perfectly fine without one."

Eevee slowed her pace and looked up at Celeste. "Vee?" she asked uncertainly, her ears perking up slightly.

"Yes, really." Celeste gave Eevee a gentle smile. "It's better if you train without a scarf anyways." Eevee came to an abrupt stop and gave her trainer a strange look. Celeste returned the look curiously. "What's wrong?" She paused, and after a moment her eyes grew wide as she came to understood what the look meant. "I can train you now." Why hadn't she realized it earlier? "Oh I'm sorry, Eevee," she said, putting a hand to her cheek. "I should've remembered sooner…" Eevee whined softly, going over to Celeste to nuzzle her feet. _Eevee…_ Celeste kneeled down and rubbed Eevee's head. "You forgot too, huh?" Celeste whispered, letting the Pokémon hop into her arms. Eevee nodded. "So I guess…it's not all my fault."

"Vee!" Eevee nodded vigorously, a grin flashing across her face. The sudden change in expression made Celeste shake her head in amusement; Eevee was always trying to help her feel better.

"Better late than never then," she said. "We'll just need to find someplace to train."

_I wish I had a Town Map,_ Celeste thought as they traveled through town. The last time they'd gone in this direction, they'd passed by a path leading into the forest. Celeste figured they could train there safely, as long as they didn't stray too far from the trail. She was kind of anxious about training in the wild; though she'd seen it been done and knew how it worked, she'd never actually had a Pokémon battle before, save for the one where got Eevee poisoned, which didn't even count. _My friends in Kanto would be shocked to find out I haven't battled yet at thirteen, _she thought. _Though they probably don't remember me anymore anyway… They'd all gone on their adventures by the time I left for—_

"Hey! Celeste!" a familiar voice called out to her. She looked over at the other side of the road and saw Chili waving at her enthusiastically, followed by Cilan and Cress.

"What are you three doing here?" Celeste asked them as they ran up to her. "The restaurant doesn't open for a few hours, right?"

"Yeah," Cilan said. "That's why we're going to do some fishing for a bit." He held up what must've been a tackle box, which she regarded with curiosity.

"Fishing?"

"Yep!" Chili answered. "There's a creek that runs through the forest near here."

"You can come with us, if you'd like," Cress said.

"Sure," Celeste beamed. "Eevee and I were about to go training in that forest anyway."

"How convenient," Cress smiled.

_Yes, _Celeste nodded. _I'll be a lot better off with their company than on my own. And I could do with a little help training, too…_ Celeste blushed, embarrassed to be such an inexperienced trainer. Certainly training with gym leaders would remedy that, and they wouldn't even have to find out. Hopefully.

"So, uh, how were you planning on doing your training?" Cilan asked her. Celeste tilted her head.

"What do you mean…?" She'd been planning to walk around until a Pokémon showed up. That was how it worked. Wasn't it?

"Were you planning on simply walking around until a Pokémon appeared?" Cress asked skeptically.

"…Not exactly," Celeste replied. She sighed mentally. _I have a lot to learn…_

"Didn't you say you were training on your way here?" Chili asked. "That day Cilan found you?"

"Oh yes," Celeste said. Just as she thought; they had good memory. "I wanted to see what Pokémon were in the area," she said, "and Eevee went up against a couple before we met that trainer." Here she paused to allow the brothers to reflect on her words. "I was thinking of doing the same again, or just having Eevee practice in a clearing if we didn't meet any Pokémon." _Ah,_ she mused. _That actually sounds like a good backup plan…_

"Ah," Cress nodded. "That sounds reasonable."

"It's a lot easier to train your own Pokémon against each other though," Chili said. "But," he glanced over at Eevee and shrugged, "you can't really do that."

"Which is why it's also good to train with friends!" Cilan added cheerily. "And, uh," he gave Celeste a shy smile, "that's what you have us for, right?"

Celeste chuckled. "Yeah," she said. "I'm glad. It's more fun this way."

It wasn't long before the group arrived at the creek in the woods, and the brothers set down their supplies and looked out over the water.

"Well, here we are!" Chili said. He turned to Celeste and asked, "What do you think?"

"It's a very nice creek," she said, as really there was nothing else to say. "But, um…" Celeste blushed as she asked, "How deep is it?" The brothers gave her curious looks, and Celeste felt Eevee shift in her arms uneasily.

"Can't you swim?" Cress asked, concerned.

"Oh it's not that. I can swim fine," responded Celeste with a sheepish grin. "I just wanted to know. I mean it's good to be a little careful right?"

"Why be careful when you've got me to take care of you?" Chili grinned, giving her a wink.

"It's four feet deep here," Cress told a blushing Celeste, saving her from further embarrassment. "And Chili," he turned to his brother with a smirk, "you're going to have a hard enough time taking care of yourself, so if you don't mind, leave Celeste's safety to me." Chili frowned, taking a small cylinder out of his pocket.

"You know," he started, "I'd like to hit you on the head with this." He pressed a button on the tube and it quickly extended into a full-fledged fishing rod. "Who knows? I might catch some fish in that waterfall you call your hair." Cress frowned in displeasure, but hearing Celeste's giggles he couldn't help but smile himself.

"Well you know what they say," he said, flipping his hair. "You've got to have blue hair. I simply can't help it."

"You can't help but use up the shampoo," Chili grumbled. "Your hair isn't the only one that needs to be kept smooth and silky, you know!"

"Y-yes! That's right!" Cilan piped up. "My hair has to stay light and fluffy too!"

_Are…they really having this conversation?_ Celeste wondered dubiously. Eevee nudged her arm, and she realized she'd been stroking her own hair subconsciously the whole time. Celeste blushed as Eevee gave her a knowing grin. She rubbed the Pokémon on the head. Eevee's fur was a lot softer than her own hair anyway, so it was all the better.

* * *

Once the triplets had equipped their fishing rods, they beckoned Celeste towards the water, ready to begin. Celeste took a deep breath, ready to start training at last, hoping that her inexperience wouldn't stand out too conspicuously.

"So do you plan to fish out Pokémon for Eevee to battle?" she asked curiously.

"You don't want to learn?" Chili asked.

"T-to fish?" Celeste asked, taken aback. Fishing _and_ training? She'd make a fool of herself. "But there are only three fishing rods…"

"You can use mine," Cilan offered, holding it out to her. Celeste hesitated for a moment, but finally reached out to take the fishing rod, surprised to find it wasn't as heavy as she'd thought it would be.

"But…what about you?" she asked, worried.

"I'm fine," he said. "Besides, you need someone to teach you." He grinned nervously before adding, "I'm, uh, not the greatest at fishing, but…"

"All the better," Celeste said with a smile. "That means you'll focus on teaching me the basics, instead of getting stuck on the details."

"I-I guess that's right," Cilan said. He turned to Cress, who shrugged—she had a point.

"Um…" Cilan turned back to see Celeste fumbling with the fishing rod. "Am I holding this right…?"

"Yes that's fine," he said. "But you might want to reel in the line a little."

Celeste blushed in embarrassment, chastising herself as she reeled in the line. She'd seen people fish on TV before, so she shouldn't have been having such a hard time with it, and it didn't seem _too_ hard.

Grasping the rod with your dominant hand: check. Making sure you have just enough line hanging out from the top: easy enough. Holding the line against the rod with your index finger: done.

"And now you cast it!" Cilan said.

"Right!" Celeste leapt up in the air, twirling the rod around her to create a flurry of sparkles. "Fishing Rod Special!" she yelled, and with a flick of the wrist she'd cast her line out into the shimmering sea…

_But this isn't the sea…_ Celeste told herself as she stopped imagining.

"So you point the rod straight out…" Cilan had been saying. "Lift it up vertically—oh, be sure to let the tip bend behind you a little. And then thrust it forward!"

_Swish and flick!_ Celeste sent her line flying out over the creek, the shiny silver lure sailing through the sky, glinting in the sunlight. She let go of the line just like Cilan told her to, and there was a small splash as the lure landed in the water.

"Hey, that was pretty good for a first-timer," Chili remarked. Celeste beamed. She'd never imagined fishing could be so exciting.

"!" Celeste's eyes widened as she saw the lure plunge beneath the water.

"Reel it in!" Cilan told her. Celeste grabbed the reel and quickly reeled in the line, feeling the tug on the rod growing stronger and stronger.

"Pull it vertical a little," Cress counseled. "But don't reel in too quickly or the line might break." Celeste nodded, determined to bring in her catch.

"Eevee!" she called. "Get ready!" Eevee primed herself on the bank, ready to pounce on whatever came out.

"Hold tight to the reel!" Cilan said.

"One last pull!" Chili told her.

_Why does this feel so dramatic?_ Celeste asked in panic. She gave the rod one last tug, and a Pokémon shot straight out of the water, landing on the ground behind her and the trio. Was it a Krabby? Remoraid? Maybe even Horsea?

"…What's that?" she asked, pointing at the Stunfisk she had caught.

"That's a Stunfisk," Cilan said with a nervous grin, detecting her obvious disappointment.

_I know Unova doesn't have Pokémon from other regions,_ Celeste thought,_ but I was kind of hoping to catch a Frillish or something…_ Eevee leapt in front of her trainer, cocking her head. Celeste smiled and gave her a nod. It was time to battle.

"Eevee! Quick Attack!" Celeste yelled, imitating trainers she'd seen before. Eevee dashed towards the flatfish and knocked into it at full force, causing the Stunfisk to flip back into the air. Celeste peered over at the triplets, pleased to see them watching her battle with anticipation; she was off to a good start, and hoped to continue that way.

"Jump up and Tackle!"

Eevee leapt at the Stunfisk, but it quickly dodged, landing back on the ground to hurl mud in retaliation. Eevee touched down and shook the mud off her fur, growling at her opponent. She wasn't going to lose this, not like she had lost against that Emolga.

"Quick Attack again!"

Eevee rushed towards Stunfisk at lightning speed, but passed it right by. She forced herself to a halt and turned back in surprise.

"So that was Mud-Slap after all," she heard Cilan say. Cress nodded.

"It lowered Eevee's accuracy," he added.

_That's not fair,_ Eevee thought, disappointed. She looked over at Celeste inquiringly.

"Sand-Attack!" Celeste called out. Eevee grinned. She flipped into the air to land with her back to the Stunfisk, kicking dirt into its face; now they were even again.

"Aren't you taking this too seriously?" the Stunfisk voiced between coughs, flopping around to get the dirt out of her eyes.

"Maybe a little," Eevee admitted with an embarrassed laugh. "But I'm pretty new to this."

"There's nothing to it," Stunfisk said. She glowed yellow and fired a beam of electricity at the Eevee, who quickly dodged it per Celeste's orders. "Besides, those trainers are the ones that tell you what to do," she continued, hurling a blob of mud at Eevee. Eevee cringed as she tried to shake off the sticky substance.

"Sorry, Eevee!" Celeste called.

"See?" Stunfisk said. "How well you do depends on how good of a trainer you have."

"Not entirely," Eevee said.

"Eevee, Growl!"

Eevee opened her mouth and cried out sharply, making the Stunfisk wince.

"Makes me wish I could actually cover my ears," she grumbled.

"It's all about cooperation," Eevee continued. "And I don't want to let Celeste down. So if you don't mind…"

"Quick Attack!"

Eevee darted at the Stunfisk one last time and slammed it up into the air. It fell to the ground with a thud, refusing to get up. So that was that.

"That was great, Eevee!" Celeste exclaimed.

"You get pretty pumped over a training battle," Chili laughed. Celeste laughed nervously, blushing as she glanced over at Eevee. Eevee gave her trainer a sympathetic smile before turning to check on the Stunfisk.

"Are you ok?" she asked the flounder.

"Psh I'll be fine," it responded. "That was a lot more humane than fighting those Basculin can get sometimes." She flopped over towards the creek. "Nothing a little mud bath won't fix up." Eevee grinned as she watched her go. "I do have one thing to tell you though," the Stunfisk spoke up again.

"Yeah?"

"You should focus more on battling and save the talking for later. Just saying." And with that, the Stunfisk flipped back into the water, leaving an embarrassed Eevee standing on the banks.


	8. Ghost of the Past

**Chapter 8: Ghost of the Past**

"So, ready for round two?" Chili asked.

"Sure," Celeste beamed. She turned to get the fishing rod again when she noticed Cilan had taken a hold of it. "O-oh," she said, slightly caught off guard. "Right. That's yours…" Feeling rather awkward, she turned to Chili and Cress. "Should I…borrow one of yours?"

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather just get to the battling?" Cress asked, smiling sympathetically. "You don't have to fish."

"You came for the battling, and we came for the fishing, right?" Cilan said. "And if we're all fishing, we can, uh, gather Pokémon for you to, er, battle…quicker…?" He chuckled nervously, slowly shrinking away from the group. Nobody seemed very convinced of his idea; they still seemed to be turning it over in their heads. And maybe Celeste really wanted to fish after all. Hadn't they just taught her?

"You're right," Celeste spoke after a moment. Perhaps if she focused on battling it'd be easier to keep her composure. She watched Chili and Cress take up their fishing rods and go over with Cilan to the waterside. Cress beckoned her to them and she lifted a hand; she'd be there in a minute.

"Vee?" Eevee nudged her trainer's shoe, looking up at her with worry. Celeste knelt down and rubbed Eevee on her head.

"It's nothing really," she said. "I just..." She looked over at the triplets; they had already cast their lines and were laughing about something or other as they waited for a catch. "It's like Cilan said. They came here to fish, but all they've been doing until now is helping me. I…I kind of feel like a burden."

"Rarp!" Eevee jumped onto Celeste's lap. "You're not being a burden!" she tried to tell her trainer. "They offered to help you! That's what friends do, right?"

"I know they offered to help," Celeste continued, "but still."

"Celeste, don't feel bad," Eevee said. She whined lightly and licked at her trainer's fingers. "We're supposed to be having fun." Celeste rubbed her behind the ears.

"We're supposed to be having fun, but now I'm making you feel bad too," she murmured.

"Celeste! Hey, I got something!" Chili yelled from the shore.

"I as well!" Cress added.

"Hurry Celeste!" Cilan called to her.

"Coming!" Celeste called back. She gave Eevee a feeble smile and they went to join the brothers. "What did you get?"

"Not sure yet!" Chili grunted, tugging hard at his fishing rod. "Whatever it is, it's really fighting!" Cress resounded with an affirmative, blowing his hair out of his reddened face as he struggled to pull his catch out of the water. Cilan, on the other hand, was dealing with something he considered much worse: he could reel in his line with perfect ease.

"Not a nibble," he moped.

"That's ok," Celeste said reassuringly, lending him a comforting smile. "There's always next time."

"This time, this time!" Cress chanted.

"One last pull!" Chili yanked at the line and there was a loud splash as out of the water leapt two extremely agitated Basculin.

Cilan gasped. "A red-striped and a blue-striped? That's the worst pairing of Basculin possible! It's a recipe for disaster!" As if to support his point the two Basculin snapped loudly in his direction, causing him to flinch. They flailed wildly in the air, each finding the other entirely guilty of getting them stuck on "these humans' ludicrous fishing contraptions"; neither had been in that kind of situation before. Their restless bickering only ended up tangling the two fishing lines together, worsening their moods and making them even more agitated than before.

"Argh, let go!" Chili clenched his teeth in frustration, trying to shake the hostile Pokémon off his line. Eevee let out a yelp as the Basculin went swinging in her direction, attempting to bite at her too.

"Panpour! Use Water Gun and get those two off our lines!" Cress tossed a Poké Ball into the air and Panpour jumped out. It took a deep breath before blasting a stream of water at the thrashing Basculin. As soon as they were freed from the lines they dove back into the creek and darted their separate ways, each glad to be rid of the other.

Cilan let out a sigh of relief, also glad they were gone. _But I still didn't catch anything,_ he pouted.

"I don't think you would've wanted to battle them," Chili told Celeste, forcing a grin. "Not with Eevee, at least."

"Yeah I definitely didn't want to battle them!" Eevee piped up. "They're too sca—" She stopped herself short and glanced over at Panpour. "They're a bit much," she murmured, embarrassed. Panpour gave her a sympathetic grin.

"They are kind of scary," he admitted, much to her surprise. "Mostly the wild ones though. And even then they're not too bad if you don't get in their way."

"Well that's nice to know," Eevee said, recalling how Stunfisk had called them violent earlier.

"Well then let's try again, shall we?" Cress spoke, carefully undoing the knots the Basculin had made in his line.

"What if you accidentally catch those Basculin again?" Celeste asked, troubled. Cress chuckled.

"Thankfully that doesn't happen much," he said. With a quick flick of the wrist he cast his line out into the creek, his lure landing on the water with a splash. "Actually," he began as he watched his lure bob along, "I'd rather like to catch a Basculin one day. To train I mean. As you can tell, they're quite powerful."

"Yeah you do that," Chili smirked, waiting for another bite himself. "One day _I'm_ going to catch a Volcarona, and it's going to _bake_ your Basculin."

"Wouldn't you have an easier time catching a Larvesta?" Cilan asked, leaning towards them as he loosened his line a little more; he hoped to catch something this time. "Those are rare enough as it is."

"I'm a little more concerned about his intention to cook my Pokémon," Cress said, somewhat disturbed.

"Hey, I'm just as good a cook as you are," Chili huffed. "It'll taste just fine." He laughed at his brother's horrified expression. "Jeeze, can't you take a joke?"

"Not that kind of joke," Cress mumbled, turning his attention back to the water. There was a small plop as his lure disappeared beneath the surface.

"Eevee! He's got something!" Celeste called back to her Pokémon, who was talking with Panpour. She watched eagerly as Cress hurried to reel in his line, but her excitement all but faded when she saw the Pokémon that peeked its head out of the water. It stared out at her with inquisitive red eyes, as confused about being caught as the triplets appeared to be about catching it.

"I never thought we'd catch a Frillish in this place," Cilan said, scratching his head.

"I didn't really think so either," Celeste murmured to herself. She didn't understand why she was so shocked by its appearance. Yes, it was strange to find one in a creek like that, but that wasn't what bothered her. After all, she'd_ wanted_ to catch a Frillish, though she wasn't quite sure why. It was then it dawned on her—she hadn't seen one since that ferry ride in Sinnoh. _Why does that bother me so much? _she wondered, growing worried. _That was years ago._ She clutched at her arm. _It didn't even do anything wrong…_

"Hey Celeste, you alright?"

Celeste looked over at Chili to find him watching her with concern.

"You were kind of staring off into space," he said. "Something bothering you?" Celeste stared blankly at him for a moment before tilting her head and beaming at him cheerily.

"No I'm fine!" she said sprightly. "I was just thinking about whether Eevee knows any good moves to use against that Frillish."

"So does she?" Chili asked, a grin growing on his face.

"I think so," Celeste nodded. Chili winked, giving her a thumbs up.

"Ok then give it a shot!" he said.

"Right. Let's go Eevee!" Celeste called out. Eevee looked up at Celeste in confusion, tilting her ears to the sides. She looked from her trainer to her opponent and back again.

"But it's Ghost-type. I don't know any attacks to use against it," she murmured. What was Celeste thinking?

Noticing Eevee's hesitation, the Frillish rose out of the water and floated over onto the land, startling Pokémon and trainer alike as they backed away to give it some space. "Oh I just wanted to even out the odds," he told Eevee preemptively, noticing her puzzled expression. "I don't think it'd be very fair if you tried to jump at me and just landed in the river instead." Eevee forced a grin. The ghost was either being courteous or taunting her. With that matter-of-fact expression he had, she couldn't tell which.

"Eevee, jump!"

"Huh?" On command, Eevee leapt up into the air, her eyes wide as she took in the barrage of blue bubbles she had narrowly avoided. She landed on the ground and glared at the Frillish.

"I can tell you're new to this," he said simply, "so just to let you know, you're supposed to pay attention to your opponent." Eevee frowned. He was definitely taunting her. "Still, I won't go easy on you. You challenged me, after all. And I have places to be."

"Sand-Attack!" Celeste yelled. Eevee whipped sand into the air and flung it in the Frillish's face. It shook its head in annoyance, its little crown-like tuft wobbling as it did. "Again!" Eevee kicked another pile of sand at the Frillish, but it blew it away with a blast of cold purple wind. Eevee shuddered as it blew past her, but otherwise it had no effect. Celeste let out a sigh of relief. At least they weren't at a total disadvantage.

"You're a Normal-type?" Frillish shook his head. "You can't really expect to win then."

"Growl!"

Eevee let out a loud and sharp growl, startling the Frillish. "I don't expect to win," she said. "I aim to."

"So do I." Frillish swooped in from behind her blasting a powerful stream of brine, slamming her up into the air.

"Eevee, no!" Celeste shouted, eyes wide. Chili winced as the Frillish followed up with a swift BubbleBeam that sent Eevee crashing down to the ground. The little Pokémon struggled to stand up. "Come on, Eevee," Celeste muttered, her hands tightened into fists. Chili watched her with increasing worry. Was that hopelessness he heard in her voice?

"She hasn't very much made an offensive yet has she?" Cress whispered to him, holding an equally troubled Panpour in his arms. Chili shook his head, his own hands balling into fists. They couldn't just _lose_.

"Maybe she has something special planned?" Cilan suggested.

"I hope you have a plan," Frillish said as Eevee found her footing. She looked up to see him forming an orb of blue energy between his tentacles. "For your sake." He lobbed the orb at Eevee, but she stood her ground as she watched it speeding towards her. She knew Celeste had a plan.

_We have to._

"Dodge and Quick Attack!" Celeste called out. Eevee leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the Water Pulse, and dashed right for the Frillish.

"It's not going to work!" Cilan exclaimed. But it didn't need to.

"Now Growl right on it and _bite down_!"

To the Frillish's great alarm, Eevee lunged at its head, let out a piercing growl, and bit it on its crown. It shrieked in pain, recoiling back over the creek and sinking down into the water like a stone, leaving nothing behind but lonely ripples.

Eevee peered over at the spot the Frillish had disappeared into before turning to Celeste with a triumphant grin. "It's gone!" she seemed to announce. It was gone, vanished beneath the waves never again to see the light of day. Celeste chuckled at the melodramatic thought, shaking her head. _No, no,_ she told herself. It would probably resurface again sometime. _…Unlike the ferry,_ she concluded with a regretful sigh.

"That was amazing!" Chili exclaimed, cuddling Eevee tightly. "Making Eevee use Bite like that!"

"It certainly is a creative way of teaching your Pokémon new moves," Cress chuckled, Panpour nodding in agreement. "I'm quite impressed."

"Yeah we were getting kind of worried," Chili said, lifting Eevee up in the air. He froze when he realized his mistake.

"Worried? About what?" Celeste asked, wide-eyed with surprise but sighing inside; she knew exactly what. It seemed her inexperience would show through no matter how hard she tried. The triplets fidgeted awkwardly, exchanging anxious glances.

"Uh, um," Cilan rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I'm, um, not quite sure how to put this, but we, er, were starting to question whether you, um, actually knew what you were doing."

Cress laughed nervously. "Yes, well, we're quite sorry to ever have doubted you."

"No, it's fine," Celeste said with a weak smile. "I can't blame you. It's perfectly rational, since you haven't seen me battle much." Not that there had been many battles to see. But inexperienced or not, she'd sent Eevee into a battle she hadn't known how to win, which was inexcusable. If she hadn't figured out how to teach Eevee Bite she wouldn't have stood a chance. _All her fighting would've been in vain, all for the sake of keeping up my façade, _Celeste thought guiltily.

"Let's go fish you out something else to battle," Chili said. With a smirk he added, "You think you can teach Eevee a Psychic-type move if we catch a Fighting-type?"

"I really don't think you'd catch a Fighting-type here," Celeste said, laughing a bit. "And actually, I think I'm done for today…"

"What's wrong?" Cilan asked, worried. "Aren't you having fun?"

"Oh, no, that's not it at all!" Celeste said quickly, sensing the brothers' alarm. "I'm just a little tired… I slept kind of late last night."

"Oh, then that's quite alright," Cress said. "We can walk you home if you'd like."

"No, you don't have to do that," Celeste chuckled. "I'll be fine. And I don't want to interrupt your fishing."

"Actually we should probably be getting back to the restaurant now," Cilan said, bending down to pick up their tackle box. "We might as well walk with you for a bit." This Celeste was able to concede to.

Upon reaching the restaurant, a waiter ran out to meet the triplets—Maxwell, Celeste guessed.

"You came just in time!" he said, breathing a sigh of relief. "There's a trainer inside waiting for you."

"Which one of us?" Cress asked.

"Chili, I think."

"Aww yes!" Chili exclaimed. "Tell them I'll be there!" He turned to Celeste with a fire in his eyes. "I can't wait to win this! Sure you don't want to come watch? I _am_ the strongest of us brothers, you know."

"I…" _I'd like to watch…_ She certainly had the time to; Joan wasn't expecting her for another hour or so. "Sure," she said. "I'd feel bad turning down that pout of yours." Chili pumped his fist in the air to celebrate his victory, raring to get himself another one. He hurried into the gym, his brothers following close behind. Celeste peered down at Eevee in her arms, squeezing her slightly. "They're good friends aren't they?" she asked with a smile.

"Vee!" Eevee nodded cheerfully. She was just glad Celeste felt secure enough to say so.


	9. Bitter Aftertaste

**Chapter 9: Bitter Aftertaste**

Chili grumbled to himself as he strode through the hallway, hands stuffed in his pockets. Cress was currently in a heated battle against a trainer in the gym, and Cilan was refereeing for him. The trainer had started out with a Tepig, and at first she seemed to have had a good plan to negate her type disadvantage—a good dose of Smog to mess with Panpour's sight and Odor Sleuth to keep up Tepig's own accuracy. But Cress found a way around the challenger's strategy soon enough, and had started to gain the upper hand when Chili left the battlefield.

Chili grimaced. Cress was going to win. Cress always won _his_ battles. And after his own bitter defeat against that other challenger's Foongus just a few days ago, Chili had decided he would rather not see Cress win this time.

_It had a double weakness against Pansear!_ he thought, gritting his teeth as he walked upstairs. _Smoked out by a stupid mushroom._ How pathetic could he get? And it'd been in front of Celeste too, which only made things more embarrassing—especially after he'd so brashly promised her a win, hoping to impress her. _Great impression I made,_ he scoffed, shoving his bedroom door open. At this rate, Cress would win _her_ over too. Heck, even Cilan had a better chance at her than he did, and he wasn't even trying.

He let out a groan and slumped onto his bed, burying his face in the sheets. Cress had probably won by now, he thought. If the trainer didn't choose to give up and go home, she'd go train some more and either come back for a rematch against Cress or try battling against him or Cilan instead. She'd probably pick the latter option, he reasoned bitterly. Then she'd win for sure.

He heard footsteps outside and quickly sat up; his brothers were running up the stairs, probably to spread the news of Cress' success. _Wahoo_, he thought wryly.

"Oh Chili! There you are!" Cilan beamed as he came through the doorway. "Cress won."

"Congrats," Chili said simply as Cress came up behind Cilan. "Is that trainer coming back for a rematch?"

"Possibly," Cress said. "What are you doing?"

"Sitting."

"Ah, of course," Cress nodded in understanding, deciding not to push it. "Celeste should be here in twenty minutes." Chili raised an eyebrow. "I invited her over this morning," Cress told him, "when I saw her at the market after you two refused to come along." Cilan chuckled sheepishly at this.

"C-come on, don't be that way. You know we were tired," he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yes, from staying up playing video games all night." Cress shook his head. "You should've stopped when I did."

"H-hey, we didn't sleep that late…"

"Not everyone goes to bed as early as you, Cress," Chili added, a smirk growing on his face. "Except little kids, that is." Glad to see he had managed to peeve Cress a little, he moved on to ask, "So what did you invite Celeste over to do anyway?"

* * *

"Good morning, Celeste!" Jenny greeted as Celeste entered the building. "Here for your cooking lessons? Cress told me you were coming." Celeste nodded as she walked over to the counter, and Jenny reached out to rub Eevee on the head.

"Isn't the restaurant closed?" Celeste asked, puzzled. "What are you doing here?"

Jenny raised an eyebrow as she scratched Eevee behind the ears. "You've never been here on a Sunday, have you? You'd think you would've, seeing as it's the brothers' day off." Celeste chuckled nervously; she didn't have an explanation for that. "I'm the receptionist, right?" Jenny continued. "The restaurant may be closed, but the gym is still open. I welcome the trainers. And…" She reached under the desk and took out a water bottle, displaying it in her hands ceremoniously. "I give out water!" Seeing Celeste's doubtful expression, she continued, "It's gym policy. All gyms must offer fresh water. Do you want one?" She laughed at the surprise on Celeste's face. "You don't have to take it, you know," she said, returning the bottle to its place underneath the desk.

"Anyway the brothers are waiting back in the kitchen, so you can head over," Jenny said. "But _you_!" Jenny poked Eevee's nose. "You have to stay out here with the Pans. Cress thought Eevee might get in the way," she said, directing this to Celeste. Eevee pouted and Celeste patted her on the head knowingly; Eevee didn't like being thought of as an inconvenience. That reminded Celeste of a question she had.

"What happens if a trainer comes in?" she asked. Jenny frowned in thought for a moment.

"You mean with the brothers? Well there are three of them, right? Trainers come to battle one, and another referees. So even if a trainer comes by, you'll still have one left with you. No problem, alright?" Celeste nodded, grateful for the assurance that she wouldn't be an inconvenience herself.

"I'll be going then." She petted Eevee on the head. "Have fun ok?"

Celeste entered the kitchen and took a quick look around; though she'd seen been inside before, she never got to inspect it on her own. It was remarkably shiny—from the sinks to the countertops to the copper pots and pans hanging in the back, where she spotted the triplets.

"There you are Celeste!" Cilan beamed as she walked over.

"I'm pleased you could make it," Cress said.

"Hi, Cilan. Hi, Cress," Celeste said. "Hi…Chili." Chili was leaning against one of the counters, his arms crossed, and for a split second Celeste thought she could see a sullen expression on his downturned face, but when he looked up he sported his usual grin and gave Celeste a quick wink.

"Hey, Celeste," he said. "Boy are you in for a treat! You get to learn from the best of the best."

"Uh, well maybe not the best of the best," Cilan said. "But we are pretty good."

"When even Cilan admits to it like that you know it must be true," Cress chuckled.

Cilan held a hand to the back of his head and strained a smile. "Er, so, Eevee must be waiting outside right?" he asked Celeste, eager to move the subject away from him. "Pansage?" Pansage peered around from behind the counter. "Oh you're right there," Cilan blinked. "Well Eevee's outside waiting now, so thanks for the help."

"Ooee," Pansage beamed. "Paaansage!" At Pansage's call his blue and red counterparts appeared before the group. "Sage." Panpour and Pansear nodded in recognition, looking up at Celeste smilingly before turning to their own trainers for confirmation.

"Yes, go ahead," Cress said. Panpour gave a nod and began to head out of the kitchen with Pansage. Pansear, however, stood eyeing his trainer doubtfully.

"Well go on," Chili said, a hint of irritation in his voice. Pansear rolled his eyes, but he too left for the dining room. Chili frowned to himself, but otherwise the exchange between trainer and Pokémon went largely unnoticed, except by Celeste.

"There are so many things we could teach you," Cilan said. "The possibilities are endless!"

"Well then where do we start?" asked Celeste curiously. She allowed her eyes to wander around the room as she asked this, and when her gaze landed on Chili, she paused to take in the image before quickly looking away again. What she saw all but confirmed her suspicions; Chili wasn't acting much different than usual—he was back to his characteristic grin—but his eyes didn't have the same fire they usually did.

"Something wrong, Celeste?" Cress asked her.

"I was thinking it would be nice to cook dinner for my parents," she said, reviving her wilted smile. "Something more than just ramen…"

"Oh you'll be a master chef when we're through with you!" Chili grabbed a ladle and brandished it in the air. "We're going to help you make a full-course meal!"

"That's a great idea!" Cilan agreed.

"Well of course it is," Cress smirked. "It was my idea in the first place. Chili simply stole it from me." Chili stuck his tongue out at his brother.

"_Borrowed_," he corrected him playfully. Celeste let out a small sigh of relief. She hoped whatever was bothering Chili would go away soon.

"We'll start out with a three-course meal today," Cress said, retrieving a small box from one of the drawers. "Any larger would be very much overdoing it at this stage."

Chili scoffed. "Only three? What about a fourteen-course meal? It's not that much harder."

"Fourteen?" Celeste voiced timidly, her eyes wide.

"Or more, if you want." Chili laughed. "Really you can do whatever you want. It's your lesson."

As if to refute his point, Cress said, "I believe we'll start off with soup for the appetizer. I was thinking zucchini garlic." Chili grunted bitterly, and Cress raised an eyebrow at him. "Would you prefer we went with tarragon?"

"Can't we just let Celeste choose?" Chili griped. _Can't we let somebody other than you_ _choose?_

Cress blinked. "If she has something in mind, then by all means," he replied. "I was simply trying to expand her palate, but if you insist." Cress turned to Celeste with an apologetic smile. "Was there anything you had in mind, Celeste? You could sift through these recipes, if you'd like." He handed her the small box. She peered at the cards inside and started going through them when she came upon a recipe that caught her interest, picking up the card and showing it to the brothers.

"Split pea soup?" Cress asked, eyeing the card uncertainly. "Are you quite certain you want to make this?" _It's rather simplistic…_

Celeste nodded. "My mom used to make it a lot," she said.

"So you'll make it for your mom instead?" Cilan inferred. "That's nice of you." Cress did his best not to frown; yes it was nice, but if her mother used to make it surely _she_ could teach Celeste.

_She did speak in past tense,_ he noted. Perhaps her mom was busier nowadays._ I suppose it's alright_, he mused._ This is Celeste, after all. _"What about the main dish?" he asked, trying to move things along.

"Oh, um." Celeste raked through the recipe cards once more, choosing one that looked familiar to her.

"Pasta salad…?" Cress frowned—his disappointment had won over his chivalry, and he didn't feel inclined to dispute it. Celeste certainly wasn't taking any risks.

Unlike Cress, Cilan approved of Celeste's choice entirely. "It's always useful to know how to prepare a good pasta salad," he stated. "What about dessert?"

Celeste considered this for a moment, looking down hesitantly into the recipe box, before shyly asking, "Could we make crepes?"

Chili raised an eyebrow. "French cuisine." He nudged Cress in the arm. "Bet you love that, huh?"

"Oh yes, it's a brilliant suggestion," Cress remarked, wholeheartedly thrilled to be making something slightly more complex; he had begun to worry Celeste wouldn't be taking full advantage of their tutelage.

The simplicity of the base dishes mattered little, however, as soon grew apparent by the vast array of ingredients Cilan set out on the counter—and that was only the first of several trips he'd be making to the fridge. While Celeste recognized some of the items, there were a few she'd never seen before, but she'd soon get acquainted with each; the first thing the triplets wanted to teach her was fixing the fixings. Mainly the produce, which meant a lot of knife work. Having only ever used butter knives before, Celeste warily edged away from the sharp blade Cress set out.

"It's not too different," Cilan said.

"Yeah," insisted Chili. "If you've used one knife, you've used them all." To emphasize his point, he held up a tomato. "Tomato, Tamato, right?"

"Dear Arceus, no!" Cress snatched the tomato from Chili, a horrified look on his face. "Tamato Berries are nothing like tomatoes!" Whoever came up with that phrase anyway?

Despite her early hesitance, it didn't take long for Celeste to get a handle on slicing and dicing. Fortunately, that ended up being the largest speed bump; cooking the pasta and prepping the soup proved fairly easy tasks that could be done simultaneously. But it wasn't until Celeste had to whisk up the crepe batter that she really started enjoying herself. The motion of the batter turning over on itself in waves, the light scraping sound of the whisk against the bowl, the weight in her arms fluctuating around as she stirred—she found it all oddly comforting.

"Celeste?"

Celeste looked up from the bowl in her arm and over at Cilan, who had his head tilted to the side and was watching her curiously. "Oh there you are," he said. "You need to add the sugar now." Celeste blushed, embarrassed to have spaced out. She set the bowl down onto the counter and poured in the sugar, avoiding eye contact with Cilan as best she could.

"The butter too, right?" she asked quietly, her hair falling over her line of vision.

"That's right, but you have to whisk in the sugar first. Just don't you get whisked away too." Celeste peered over at him; he had his hands behind his back and was beaming at her gently. A sigh of relief escaped her, and she pushed her hair out of her face and returned the bowl to its position in the crook of her arm as she started whisking again.

"I'll do my best."

"Ah, Celeste." Cress' voice broke through the calm as he came towards them. "When you're done whisking up a storm, there are some split peas awaiting your presence at the soup station—"

"That will have to wait until after you've met with the pasta first," Chili interrupted, grinning jovially at Cress.

"The split peas' appointment is earlier than the pasta's," Cress reminded Celeste cordially. "It's only fair to see them first." He sneaked a competitive smirk in Chili's direction, who gawped at his brother's insolence.

"I can't argue with that logic," Celeste smiled. "Is this good, Cilan?" She handed him the bowl and watched expectantly as he checked the consistency.

"Perfect," Cilan said. "Now I'll just set this in the fridge for an hour. When you're free again we'll make the custard sauce. That's whisking too," he added. Celeste rubbed her neck bashfully.

"I look forward to it."

* * *

Eevee hopped up onto the balcony railing and peered down at the battlefield below. Large, rectangular, and laden with rocks, its plain presence was in stark contrast to the lavish dining room just outside the double doors. Eevee would've thought the brothers would do something to spruce it up a little. Unless… _Are all gyms like this? _she wondered. Maybe it was just the first gyms that had to be this basic.

"Do you like the view?" Panpour asked from down behind her, bringing Eevee back to the present.

"Yup!" she replied. "It's even better than I thought it would be." She gazed up at the glass-paned ceiling; despite her newfound height the shiny glass windows were still largely out of reach. She briefly entertained the idea of jumping up to touch them, but decided it was best not to.

Pansage climbed onto the railing and sat down beside her. "You're thinking of jumping up there aren't you?" he asked.

"Well I _was_!" Eevee laughed. "You almost had me."

"I guess my timing was off," Pansage said.

"Like trainer, like Poké," Pansear joked.

Pansage shook his head, the bush on top rustling as he did so. "I thought that saying died out years ago. Besides I was only making a guess. Psychic-type I'm not. You could be though," he told Eevee. "You know, one day." Eevee nodded thoughtfully at this, but not wanting to continue the subject, leapt down onto the balcony next to Panpour and Pansear.

"Could we check in at the kitchen for a bit?" she asked.

Panpour put a hand on his chin in contemplation. "I guess so. They should be done by now."

"Alright then," Pansage agreed.

"Couldn't we slide down the banister one last time first?" Pansear suggested. Eevee's ears perked up.

"Yeah, let's do that!"

* * *

The scent of split peas and toast filled the air, and Celeste took a deep breath of it, sighing contentedly as she finished rolling up the crepes. She drizzled a few tablespoons of custard sauce on each plate like Cilan had demonstrated before sprinkling on some confectioners' sugar. Cilan nodded approvingly.

"Now all that's left is the soup and croutons," he said.

"Hey, hold on," Chili protested from behind him. "My croutons are done. Take a look for yourself." He showed them over to the tray he'd just taken out of the oven, covered with croutons sitting in tidy little rows like tiny toy soldiers. Each crouton was actually made up of two pieces of bread, sandwiched together with cheese in between—Chili's idea.

"They look really cute," Celeste remarked. "Like mini grilled cheese sandwiches."

Chili winked. "That was the plan."

"A wonderful plan," Celeste giggled, much to Chili's delight, before going over to Cress to check on the soup. The stove was already off when she got there, and she cast Cress a questioning gaze. He nodded; the soup was ready.

"Oh good," Celeste sighed, picking up a bowl to ladle the soup into. "I was getting hungry."

Cress chuckled. "As was I. Would you like a taste first?" He held out a spoon to Celeste, and she accepted it hesitantly, dipping it into the soup and taking a sip. She froze, the spoon lingering in the air in front of her lips.

"How does it taste?" Cress asked her. "…Celeste?" He saw Celeste's hand start to tremble. "Celeste?" he repeated. "What's wrong?" He suddenly remembered that she was also holding a bowl, and his eyes darted over to it just in time to see it slip out of her grasp.


	10. Out of the Frying Pan

**Chapter 10: Out of the Frying Pan**

A piercing crash rang out through the kitchen as the bowl hit the floor and shattered on contact. Chili and Cilan looked over to see Cress gawking at the tiny ceramic fragments spinning across the tiles, still charged with the force of the impact. Uncertain what to make of them, the brothers turned their gaze onto Celeste; she stared down at the wreckage wide-eyed, her face blanching.

"I'm sorry," she spoke after a moment. Her hollow voice hung heavy in the silence, feeling sorely misplaced despite being the most rational response. Holding a hand over her mouth, she repeated her apology in that same empty voice. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She knelt down next to the debris and started picking up the pieces one by one, collecting them in the palm of her shaking hand. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Chili bent down next to her. "Hey, it's alright," he said softly. "Here, I'll take those." He held out his hand to take the pieces from Celeste, trying and failing to get a good look at her face, which she kept turned away from him as she handed over the fragments she'd gathered. "Hey, Celeste, it's alright," he repeated anxiously. Celeste only shook her head.

"I—I'm sorry," she whimpered, a tear splashing onto the floor beneath her. Chili's face immediately fell. She was crying. He shared a troubled look with his brothers when Celeste suddenly stood up beside him. She clutched her hair close to her face, refusing to look any of them in the eye. "I'm sorry."

Cress started towards her. "Celeste…" She shrunk back from his outstretched hand.

"I'm sorry," she repeated quietly, and before he could say anything else she dashed out the door.

"Celeste, wait!" Cress called out. He started after her, but couldn't bring himself to continue. Instead, he pressed his fingers to his brow, shutting his eyes and shaking his head.

"Cress?"

Cress looked over at Cilan, who gazed at him helplessly. "What do we do?" Cilan asked. Cress turned away, his eyes cast down to the ground. He didn't know how to answer that question. For once in his life he didn't have all the answers. Chili gritted his teeth. For once in his life he _wanted_ Cress to have all the answers, to tell them what to do, take charge of the situation. His hands began to curl into fists when he felt the sharp edges of the shards he was holding dig into his skin.

"Agh," he winced, dropping the pieces back to the ground. He stood up decisively, wiping his hand against his pants. "I'm going to get a broom," he murmured.

"Chili…"

"Just shut up, Cress," Chili muttered as he walked away. Cress frowned, but didn't protest further. He hadn't actually known what to say anyway.

Cilan stood beside himself with distress as he watched his brothers mill around. There had to be something he could do. He turned to look at the door, clutching his arm uneasily. He had to try.

* * *

"Celeste, what's wrong? Where are you going?"

Jenny had watched fretfully as Celeste burst through the kitchen doors into the dining room, hiding her face behind her hands. She had tried to call out to her, but Celeste had run right past her, fleeing outside through the front doors.

_What happened?_ Jenny wondered to herself. Celeste had been in such a good mood when she last saw her just a few hours ago. Jenny had even sent away all the trainers that had come looking to battle so her lesson wouldn't be interrupted and she wouldn't feel so stressed out—it'd seemed to worry her that she might be getting in the way somehow.

The brothers still hadn't come out of the kitchen, and after that crash she'd heard earlier, the place felt oppressively silent. Her ears pricked up when she heard a click. The door to the back hallway swung open and Eevee leapt down from the handle and pounced onto the floor. _Did she just open the door? _Jenny heard the chattering of the Pans echoing in the hallway, but Eevee ignored them and darted across the dining room in what looked to be a Quick Attack.

"Eevee, what's going on?" Jenny asked, knowing full well she wouldn't be getting an answer. Eevee rushed right on past her, using a Tackle on the door to push it open a crack before slipping outside.

"Pan!" An exhausted Pansage stumbled into the dining room, leaning against the door to catch his breath. Panpour and Pansear ran up behind him, and they exchanged a few breathless words before sprinting over to the kitchen. Pansage looked up at Jenny questioningly, but she could only shake her head and shrug; she was just as lost as he was.

They'd expected it to be a great relief to them when Cilan stepped out of the kitchen, but the distraught look on his face did little to ease their worries.

Pansage scurried over to his trainer, looking up at him with concern. "Sage?" Cilan glanced down at him with a nervous smile, but not knowing what to say, looked over at Jenny instead.

"Where did she go?" he asked.

"Outside."

Cilan turned to his Pokémon. "Pansage, could you stay with Chili and Cress?"

"Pan?"

"What happened?" Jenny asked, unknowingly echoing Pansage's question with her own.

"I-I don't really know," Cilan said. "Pansage, please…" Pansage nodded once before retreating into the kitchen. "Jenny, could you…not mention anything?" He gazed at her with pleading eyes.

"Sure," she replied, though she definitely didn't feel sure about herself.

Cilan slowly pushed open the front doors and stepped outside. It was nice and bright, the sun high in the early afternoon sky, and a faint, late-September breeze blew past him, causing him to shiver slightly. It felt strangely tranquil compared to the tense atmosphere inside the restaurant.

He saw Celeste seated on the side of the stairs, leaning against the stone banister. "Celeste?" Her head perked up slightly before dropping once more. Eevee peered over at him from her place in Celeste's arms, her ears drooping. When Eevee still didn't look away, Cilan took it as a sign to come over, and Eevee watched him expectantly as he approached them. "Can I sit here?" he asked quietly. Celeste nodded, but still didn't look over at him as he sat down on the steps next to her.

They sat there in silence, Celeste gently stroking her hand across Eevee's fur, Cilan gazing out on the plaza in front of the gym. A group of Pidove were flocking around a bush, chirping amongst themselves. One flapped its wing into another's face, and the second pecked the first on the head in annoyance. Cilan chuckled to himself. Confused, Celeste looked up at him and followed his gaze to the group of Pidove.

"It's nice out here," Cilan spoke after a moment. "A little strange we've had so few trainers today though." Eevee smiled knowingly to herself; she liked to think she'd helped Jenny come up with that plan. She snuggled into Celeste's arms and closed her eyes. She'd let Cilan take it from here.

Celeste peered down at Eevee settling down for a nap. So she was on her own now.

"I know how awkward you must've been feeling," Cilan began again, catching her by surprise.

Awkward? She'd been expecting him to say something more along the lines of "ashamed", and tell her how she shouldn't feel that way by asserting that the incident wasn't a big deal. But it was Cilan who had an ashamed expression on his face now, his lidded eyes staring out in front of him but not quite taking in what they saw. He strained a smile for a moment before deciding it was too much effort and letting it simply drop into a frown. "It could have been a lot worse, really."

"I don't see how," Celeste finally mumbled. This time Cilan did smile.

"You could have fainted, for one," he supposed. Celeste blushed, looking away again. That would've been much worse for several reasons.

"I still broke your bowl," she murmured.

"It could have been the special glass bowl our mother gave us," Cilan said. "But it wasn't." There was a short pause in the conversation as Celeste contemplated his words.

"I'd feel much worse if it was," she confessed softly. In truth, she felt worse simply hearing about it. "I'm sorry…"

"It was an accident," Cilan said. "It's not your fault."

_I wouldn't be so sure of that, _Celeste thought regretfully. She glanced over at Cilan to see him watching her anxiously. He seemed to know she was thinking just that. _I'm sorry… I'm sorry for worrying you._ She closed her eyes and turned away, too ashamed of herself to look him in the eye. She was being so difficult. He was just trying to help her feel better. He didn't know any better.

Celeste took a deep breath of air, pooling her thoughts together in her mind. She hadn't expected the pea soup to taste like that. In fact, she'd been hoping it would taste nothing like her mother's version. When Cress had told her they'd be adding dried Charti Berry and oregano, she'd thought she'd secured this distinction. Her mother, too, had used certain ingredients in her soup that weren't mentioned in the recipe books. It was a bit like a family recipe, passed down from her grandmother. Celeste knew for a fact that her grandmother's recipe was different from the one they'd come up with today, so it had come as a major shock when she realized she recognized the taste from somewhere else. And that hadn't even been the most distressing part. No, she reflected solemnly. What really got her was when she figured out _where_ she recognized the taste from. It was far too coincidental to bear.

She'd chosen those dishes for a reason. She'd sensed Cress' disappointment easily, although he had tried to be discreet about it, but though she felt bad for disappointing him so, she had to go through with her plan. Her mother's split pea soup was a household favorite. Her grandmother always made pasta salad when they went on picnics. And the first and only time she'd had crepes before was on that trip to Sinnoh when they stayed at Hotel Grand Lake. She'd just wanted to make sure she could handle them. The crepes and pasta salad posed no problems for her, for which she was grateful. She was sure the soup wouldn't have done much either, if it hadn't tasted the way it did.

After all this time, she'd thought she was over it already. _Apparently not,_ she thought. _I guess I'll have to try again. _She still had a few loose ends to tie up, it seemed. _You have to get over it,_ she told herself. _Please…_ She took another deep breath and opened her eyes.

"Cilan?"

"Yes?" Cilan answered uncertainly; he was surprised that Celeste had started the conversation this time. Celeste smiled timidly, tucking some loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"Thank you. Thank you for…" She paused, rubbing her arm self-consciously. "For helping me." _For trying,_ she thought humbly.

A wave of relief washed over Cilan's face, and he let out a huge sigh which Celeste could only mirror internally. The calm was soon interrupted by a low grumbling noise. Cilan looked over at Celeste in surprise; her cheeks had turned beet red as she tried to avoid eye contact with him and the newly-awakened Eevee. Eevee shook her head in amusement and pawed at Celeste's arm.

"Glad to see I'm not the only one starving right now," Cilan said. He wrapped his arms over his stomach, pouting slightly. "All that excitement really worked up an appetite." He stood up and stretched his arms, Eevee going over next to him and doing the same. "You're hungry too, right?" he asked the Pokémon.

"Vee!" she answered affirmatively.

"Well then, Celeste?" Cilan beamed down at her. "I hear there's a delicious meal waiting for us inside, prepared by four of the finest cooks in the Unova region."

"Should I be worried about the region?" Celeste asked innocently. "Are you sure it wasn't just three amazing chefs and some girl?"

Cilan chuckled. "That girl is you."

"Like I said," Celeste smiled down at the ground. "'Some girl.'" Cilan pondered this for a moment.

"How about 'three really good chefs and their really good friend'?" He held out a hand to Celeste. The shadow of a doubt played briefly across her eyes, but she accepted his outstretched hand and he helped her to her feet. Eevee ran up the stairs in front of them and let out a resounding bark. "I think she wants us to hurry," Cilan said. He began walking up the stairs when he noticed Celeste lingering behind him, clutching her hands close to her chest. She wondered how Chili and Cress would act when she came back inside. Cilan, too, wondered this, and figured that was what was worrying her. "It'll be alright," he said, as much to himself as to Celeste. He trusted his brothers would do their best to act natural, as they wanted as little as he did to upset Celeste any further. "It'll be alright," he repeated quietly, holding his hand out to Celeste once more. She seemed more hesitant to take it than before, and when she did, it didn't relieve him as much as it did just a few seconds ago—her hand was shaking again. Celeste took another breath as Cilan pulled open the door, giving him a wavering smile in a feeble attempt to soothe his worry. She hoped she could act natural too.

* * *

Celeste's brow furrowed into a perplexed frown. "This tastes kind of…different," she said, prodding at her soup with her spoon.

"I think you're right," went the voice of the man sitting across the table from her. He took another spoonful of soup into his mouth to make sure his taste buds weren't deceiving him. "It does taste different." He turned to the woman sitting at the end of the table next to him. "Honey, did you change something?" She nodded cheerfully.

"I'm glad you noticed!" she said. "I decided to add a little something. You know, to make the recipe my own."

"You should do it this way from now on," Celeste beamed. "Do you think grandma would've liked it?" Her parents shared a small smile between themselves as Celeste continued to eat.

"I'm sure she would've loved it," her father said. "Although," he turned to his wife with a questioning grin, "I'd love to know what you added to it."

"That's for me to know and you to find out," Celeste's mother answered teasingly.

"Whatever you did, it's really tasty," Celeste said.

"Maybe I should make it again when we get back from Sinnoh," her mother mused.

"Right when we get back from Sinnoh?"

"Right when we get back from Sinnoh, sweetie. I promise."


	11. Learning to Speak

**Chapter 11: Learning to Speak**

_Oh dear._ Joan let out a sigh as she peered inside the fridge. They were out of pudding. She'd eaten the last pudding cup last night, she recalled, while watching "Unova's Got Talent". The only thing left was the cardboard packaging the cups had come in, which she plucked out of the fridge with a frown, tossing it in the trash. She'd have to go buy more. _But…_ She looked over at the telephone hooked on the wall and wrinkled her nose in thought. She was waiting for a call from her daughter and didn't want to miss it while she was out. Her thoughts turned to Celeste.

That poor girl hadn't been outside in days, not since their last trip to the market together. She hadn't even gone on the morning walks she usually took. _Maybe it's gotten too cold for her lately,_ Joan thought, continuing her ascent up the stairs.

She knocked on Celeste's door lightly before stepping inside. "How's it going?"

"I'm almost done." Celeste added the shirt she'd been folding onto a stack of clothes. "There are still a few things drying outside though..."

"That's alright, dear," Joan said. "I was hoping you could do a grocery run for me. You can finish this up when you get back. I can even hang some of these things while you're out. I'm waiting on a call from my daughter you see, dearie."

Celeste nodded slowly, carefully adding another shirt to the stack. "What do you need?"

"Let me write it down for you."

"No, it's fine," Celeste said before Joan could go hunt down pen and paper. "I'll just remember it."

* * *

After collecting her coat and Eevee's Poké Ball, Celeste headed outside. Joan had given her more money than she needed and told her to take her time and buy a little something for herself, but Celeste kind of hoped to finish up quickly. Gazing out across the sidewalk, she let out a little sigh and released Eevee onto the pavement.

Eevee spun around in confusion, blinking as she took in her surroundings. They were outside the house! Eevee yipped. "Where are we going?" she asked expectantly. "As if I didn't know." She marched off, singing a little ditty to herself. "We're off to see the triplets! The wonderful triplets of—"

"Eevee, you're going the wrong way."

Eevee stopped and gave Celeste an enquiring look.

"We're going to the grocery store. See?" Celeste raised the wicker basket in her hands, and Eevee frowned; Miss Joan always took that basket with her when she went shopping. Celeste swung the basket slightly. "Do you want to…?" With a nod, Eevee hopped inside and took a seat.

Eevee rested her head on the rim of the basket, letting herself fall into the rhythm of its swaying, observing the buildings they passed along the way for familiar landmarks. _It's better than nothing,_ she thought. At least they were outside.

Hold on. What day was it? Eevee's head perked up as she scanned the street for familiar faces. _Oh wait, it's Wednesday._ She slumped back into her seat. The triplets would be busy in their restaurant at that hour.

Eevee pricked her ears at the sound of soft notes falling down to her from above, and she peered up at the source; Celeste was nonchalantly humming a tune they'd heard on the radio that morning. Eevee tucked herself snugly at the bottom of the basket. Celeste was in a good mood. _But not a good enough mood to visit the triplets, I guess._

"Don't get too comfy in there," Celeste spoke up. Eevee lifted her head and cocked her ears curiously. Celeste giggled. "You're getting evicted as soon as we reach the store. By pudding cups, no less. ...Or is it the bagels?" she wondered to herself. "One of those two." She wasn't quite sure which section was closer to the entrance—the dairy aisle or the bread aisle. Fortunately for Eevee, that really was the biggest concern on Celeste's mind at the moment. If only because she felt confident that she wouldn't run into any familiar faces at that hour.

The bread aisle had been closer after all, so it was a bag of bagels that dethroned Eevee first, leaving her to follow her trainer around on foot. Which was fine, except for the potential to get run over by a shopping cart. At least, since school was still in session, there wouldn't be any little kids pushing carts around—not only were they too short to see in front of the carts, they drove them like different karts entirely. Celeste would know—she'd tried it once. _Once,_ she reflected ruefully, _because the one time I tried it I ended up running into somebody._

She stopped in front of a shelf full of tea, scanning the labels for chamomile, when it occurred to her that there certainly were a lot of different teas. Just two months ago, she wouldn't have given it a second thought. Tea was tea. But Miss Joan and the triplets were pretty much tea aficionados, and so her ignorance of the subject had decreased substantially. The variety actually amazed her now that she could appreciate it.

Spotting chamomile tea at last, Celeste reached out to take it, setting it down into the basket on top of the bagels, when she heard someone call out her name. She turned to the voice to find Tia walking over, waggling her fingers at them.

"Hiya!"

"Hi," Celeste said. Eevee gave Tia a cheery bark in greeting.

"I haven't seen you guys in weeks!" Tia said. "It's like you've been avoiding the restaurant or something."

Celeste grinned uneasily. _It hasn't been two weeks yet,_ she thought to herself.

Tia joined Celeste on her quest around the grocery store, chatting idly about the items they passed and the things that had happened at the restaurant while Celeste was away. They'd apparently hired new help, so Tia had the day off. It was the first time they'd done so since the restaurant opened earlier that year; it used to just be a gym. That explained why there were so few workers, and why the building was so…imposing for such an inviting restaurant.

After the two girls paid for their items, they followed Tia's suggestion and set off down the road for a bakeshop that made "_the_ best Danishes ever."

"Vic is actually really bad at rapping," Tia was saying. "Probably as bad as Alexis is good at gymnastics." She giggled. "Sheila thinks he's annoying, but Lane thinks he'd make a good poet. I don't see it though. Now, if Jenny were to try out for the police force that would make _tons_ of sense. Don't try to tell her that though," she winked. Celeste nodded as Tia went on, not entirely certain if it was alright for Tia to talk about Jenny's irrational fear of Herdier like she was doing. Eevee was listening closely to Tia's gossip from her hold in Celeste's arms, however; she was curious to learn more about the new workers, not to mention what wrapping had to do with being a poet. She didn't get the chance to find out; just as Tia got back to the topic of Alexis and Vic, they reached a storefront with a white-and-orange-striped awning above which was a sign lettered "Crumbkin".

Tia led them inside and they were soon greeted by the wonderful sight of a long glass counter filled with of pastries. Strudels, scones, muffins, Danishes—but nothing that resembled a cake, Celeste noted. There must've been a different shop entirely for cakes.

Celeste savored the pleasant aroma. "It smells so good," she crooned. She didn't know where to begin. She'd always wanted to try scones. But Tia had recommended the Danishes earlier, so it might seem rude if she didn't order one. But she was curious about the pumpkin crumble bars that the shop specialized in; even the name sounded delicious. Unlike Celeste, Tia placed her order—an almond custard Danish and coffee—right away. Not wanting to seem even more indecisive than she already did, Celeste settled on a berry Danish for herself and a pumpkin crumble bar for Eevee—so she could at least taste it. "And milk," she told the cashier, blushing at Tia's amused expression.

"Don't you drink coffee?" Tia asked with a grin. No, she didn't, Celeste admitted. She much preferred tea anyway.

Once the group had seated themselves, and after Celeste had spent a moment relishing the wonders of scrumptious baked confections, Tia took it upon herself to start up a conversation that wasn't based around food.

"You know," she began thoughtfully, "since we're here, we should have a girl talk." Celeste stared at Tia for a moment before taking another bite of her Danish. Tia giggled. "Well you don't seem very excited."

Celeste blushed, rubbing her neck. "Um, well, what do you mean by 'girl talk'?"

Tia laughed, waving her hand airily. "Oh, you know!" When after a moment, Celeste still hadn't replied, Tia's mouth formed a small, surprised "O". "You really don't know?"

"No…?" Celeste looked to Eevee for help, but the Pokémon was even more confused than she was.

Tia scratched her head. They were only a year apart, right? Celeste should definitely have known what girl talk was. "You know, clothes," she said. "And…boys." Mostly boys, she noted. Celeste gave her that apologetic grin she often had and shook her head, clueless.

"Ok then," Tia said. "I'll start and we'll go from there. So the other day, Alexis' boyfriend picked her up from work. With a motorcycle, too!" she bubbled. "Anyway I asked Sheila if she had a boyfriend and she said she did! Jenny doesn't though, because she wants to focus on work and studying and stuff." She paused to see how Celeste was holding up. "Are you starting to get what I'm talking about?"

"I think so…um…" Celeste held a hand to her cheek, trying to think of the right response. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Tia beamed. "I think you understand the gist of this conversation now!" Celeste nodded, though she wasn't sure she wanted to _have_ that conversation.

"No, I don't have a boyfriend," Tia answered with a laugh. "Just a bunch of guyfriends. There's somebody I like though…" A light blush rose up in her cheeks as she continued. "He's really nice, and we've known each other for a while, but I don't really think he likes me like that."

"Oh!" Celeste's eyes lit up in understanding, and she suddenly—and very naïvely—asked, "Is this about Maxwell?"

Tia's jaw dropped, her blush deepening. "Maxwell? What are you talking about!?"

"W-well, it's just that—the way you talked about him in the store—I thought maybe…" Celeste shrunk down into her seat. _I messed up_, she bemoaned. She hadn't thought Tia was one to get embarrassed. Eevee watched the two humans curiously, wondering why they were acting so funny.

"Did I say something weird in the store?" Tia asked, calming down as she tried to remember their conversation.

"Not exactly," Celeste backtracked. "I mean what you said about him was completely normal and relevant to the conversation, b-but I mean our conversation was really random and yet he always seemed to be relevant to it, so…" She trailed off, figuring she'd made her point.

Tia nodded in thought. "That makes sense… I didn't even think twice about that. But yeah, I've liked Maxwell for a while."

"How long?"

"Maybe a year? Or two?" Tia chuckled nervously. "Doesn't matter! I started liking him a while ago!" Three years really. But she didn't want to tell Celeste that. That just sounded embarrassing.

"Was that when you met him?"

"A little bit after."

"Why do you like him?"

"He's really nice…and funny too. And he's a real cutie, you know. I mean he's kind of a nerd sometimes, like when he talks about math. And he doesn't like sports at all. But he's a really good writer. We had to write a paper together once and the teacher said he had really good voice." Tia stumbled on her words. She wasn't explaining herself very well, was she? "We get along really well," she mumbled. "And he's really good to his Pokémon. He still trains with them, even though he doesn't journey anymore. Sometimes he goes to the Battle Club in Accumula Town." She shook her head with a smile. "You know, he finished the League challenge once—the gyms, I mean—but he was too late to register for the conference. He's thinking of entering next year. I'm not much for battling—I still have a Lillipup. But I think he'd do well. That's kind of off-topic though." Tia frowned, taking a moment to finish off her coffee. "Sheila says I do that a lot."

Celeste only smiled. "You really do like him…"

"Well yeah!" Tia laughed. "Weren't you listening?"

"I-I mean it's not just some crush."

_Some crush?_ Tia raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Well, there's a difference between having a crush and actually liking someone, isn't there?" Celeste chuckled nervously, hoping her previous statement hadn't sounded demeaning.

"Aren't they the same thing?"

Celeste rubbed her arm nervously. "Uh, well, I always thought crushes were more inconsequential and that liking someone meant more than that. N-not as much as love, obviously…" What was she saying? She turned to Eevee helplessly, but the Pokémon gave her an encouraging look; she actually thought she was doing alright. "I mean…feelings are really complicated, and…love has a lot of different stages, so I thought it made more sense for crushes to be more distinct from liking somebody. A-although I guess if you had a crush on someone you'd still say you liked them…" Celeste fell silent, watching Tia for some sort of reaction. She currently had a thoughtful look on her face.

"So if I really do like him," she spoke after a moment, "what should I do about it?"

"Nothing, I guess," Celeste said. Tia cast her a doubtful look. "You say you don't think he likes you, b-but I don't think you should be so sure. When I saw you two together before, I never really thought that either of you might like each other, but you obviously do, so…" She paused, trying despairingly to collect her thoughts. "I guess what I'm saying is don't force it. You'll have less to worry about that way. Just do what comes naturally, come what may."

The silence that followed made Celeste regret ever stepping outside the house that day. She slowly sunk down in her chair once more, wishing she still had milk to drink to occupy herself. She'd said too much. She should've just let Tia say what she wanted to. Maybe then they could've talked about something less awkward. Those things weren't even her business anyway.

"Jeeze, you're really deep for a thirteen-year-old!" Tia chirruped. "You know, that's really good advice!"

"I would hope it was," Celeste blinked, stunned by Tia's cheery reaction. "I wouldn't want to give bad advice."

"Oh, but we never even got to get to you!" Tia laughed. "I wanted to ask you if _you_ liked anyone!" She put her head in her hands and beamed at Celeste keenly.

"No, I don't," Celeste said simply.

"No one caught your eye since you moved here?"

Celeste put a finger to her lips, thinking it over. "I don't think so."

Tia frowned. "Come on, there's got to be someone. One of the triplets? All of the triplets?" She raised her eyebrows expectantly. Celeste's opened her mouth to speak before closing it again, her brow furrowing, perturbed.

"Um, you are kidding, right?"

"But don't you think they're cute?"

"I guess…?" Celeste answered hesitantly. She was starting to think that had been a trick question, and Tia's mischievous grin only served to confirm her suspicions. "It's more of a fact, isn't it?" she asked timidly. "It's not like they're particularly unattractive or anything. I mean, you must think they're cute to have asked me that question in the first place." Tia pouted, crossing her arms in mock offense.

"So that's it? I tell you my love life and get nothing out of you? That's not fair."

"Veee!"

Celeste turned to Eevee, surprised. "You think it's not fair?" Eevee nodded; she wanted Celeste to share something too.

_You have to start somewhere,_ Eevee thought. It was as good a point as any. She set her head down on the table and directed her puppy-dog eyes at Celeste.

Celeste looked away, smiling halfheartedly at the crumbs on her plate. She knew what Eevee wanted already, and she knew that she was right.

Twiddling her thumbs, she muttered to the crumbs, "I used to like somebody."

"Well how was he?" Tia asked.

"He was nice. Really smart, too. And considerate." Celeste smiled as she reflected on the memory. "He was bit awkward at times, but he was a natural with Pokémon."

"Aw he sounds nice! So why don't you like him now?"

The smile faded from Celeste's face, and she shared a look with Eevee. "I moved, for one… But…" She lowered her head. "He wasn't who I thought he was."

"Oh… Well that's alright." Tia put a hand on Celeste's shoulder. "That just means he wasn't all that great in the first place, right?" She gave Celeste a reassuring smile, and Celeste returned it in miniature.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I'm glad we had this talk," Tia said as they walked outside the bakeshop. "We should do this again sometime! You've never heard of Donut Joe's have you? It's Chili's go-to donut shop, so you know it's gotta be good. Oh and you should stop by the restaurant tomorrow if you have time!" Tia beamed at Celeste. "I want to introduce you to Alexis and Vic."

"O-oh ok—"

"Oh! I have to go this way now. See you around!" Tia waved as she split off in another direction, and Celeste waved back as she watched her go.

"That was actually pretty nice," she told Eevee as they went along. Eevee nuzzled her head against Celeste. They'd made a lot of progress that day, she thought proudly, in more ways than one.

* * *

Celeste had spent just under two hours on what was supposed to be a quick grocery run, so she'd been dreading Miss Joan's sheer disappointment in her delay. Especially since she was waiting on her pudding. But when Celeste entered the house, she found Joan lounging casually on the couch talking on the phone, laughing at a joke the person on the other side of the line—her daughter—had said. And so she let out a sigh of relief, that nagging doubt in her mind soon fading away. She put away the groceries, retrieved the last of the garments that'd been hanging outside, and went upstairs to finish doing the laundry, singing something or other about hangers and clotheslines while Eevee rolled around on the bed.

Later that day, she decided she'd make dinner for Joan, and after seeing what they had available, settled on a vegetable stew, using what the triplets had taught her about the pea soup.

Joan poked her head into the kitchen. "Something smells delicious."

Celeste chuckled sheepishly, stirring the stew. "It's almost done. Just a few more minutes."

"Alright, dear," Joan said. "That cooking lesson your friends gave you looks like it really paid off." Celeste nodded; she was right about that.

_I guess I will stop by tomorrow,_ she mused. She didn't like to admit it, but she'd been avoiding them ever since that incident. Eevee had noticed right away, of course, but even Tia had mentioned it—as a joke, yes, but it was still true. In trying to avoid the subject of her blatant overreaction, it seemed she may have simply emphasized it. She was better now, she reflected as she turned off the stove. She felt a lot stronger than she had that day, but that meant little if she was still hiding away.

She ladled the stew into three bowls and brought them into the dining room, setting two on the table and the smallest on the ground for Eevee, who dug in hungrily. Celeste shook her head in amusement, taking her seat and watching expectantly as Joan tasted the soup. Joan nodded her head, pleasantly surprised.

"Are these chunks Qualot Berry?"

"Yes. I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all," Joan smiled. "It's good. Your parents would be very proud of you."

Eevee's muscles tensed and her eyes moved to lock onto Celeste's face, which went blank for a moment before taking on an expression of regret. Miss Joan had gone back to eating, but Celeste only stirred her stew around quietly. Eevee's ears drooped, and she halfheartedly bowed her head to her bowl once more, having to content herself with Celeste's restraint.

Celeste prodded at the carrot slices in her bowl, submersing them in the stew and watching as they bobbed back up to the surface. She sighed internally. She didn't think she'd given her parents much of anything to be proud of lately.

Taking a breath, Celeste set down her spoon gently. "Miss Joan?"

"Yes, dear?" Joan took a sip of her juice, and Celeste waited until she had set down the glass before continuing weakly.

"My parents are dead."


	12. Just a Little Push

**Chapter 12: Just a Little Push**

Thinking back, for almost as long as Celeste could remember, her philosophy had been "tread lightly, read the room, and avoid upsetting a good mood if it can be helped." She'd worked hard to bring herself up to the standards needed to successfully follow such a practice. But sitting in that dining room, watching the shock and distress overtaking Miss Joan's facial expression, Celeste felt, for the umpteenth time in those past few weeks alone, that she had utterly failed herself on that crucial third point.

She knew that Eevee had wanted her to tell Miss Joan the truth. Miss Joan, who had willingly taken her in and given her everything she needed, never once enquiring on her present situation, deserved an explanation more than anybody else. That was how Eevee reasoned it. Celeste, on the other hand, reasoned that someone as kind and generous as Miss Joan shouldn't have to worry herself over something that couldn't be helped, lending her sympathy to a girl who couldn't make anything of it anyway. The only choice left was to compromise.

Joan put a hand over her mouth, her eyes trembling. "Dearie, they're dead? Oh, I wondered…" she lamented. "But I never thought they might be dead." She shook her head in disbelief, gazing at Celeste sympathetically. "Oh dearie, I'm so sorry."

"No, it's alright." Celeste put on a reassuring smile. "It was years ago anyways."

"Years?" asked Joan, not feeling at all reassured by the fact. "What happened?"

"There was…an accident," Celeste said, her eyes trained on the ground. How she wished she could leave it at that. But it just made her feel so guilty, like she was cheating. _Maybe just a little more._ "They…" She paused. She wanted to word it as mildly as possible. "The ferry they were on…" _Oh that's not mild at all,_ she moped. And Miss Joan was looking more concerned by the second. "It…" Celeste sighed, resigning herself to simply being brief. "It sank." Miss Joan clutched a hand over her heart, her expression pained. Celeste sank into her seat. "I'd, um, rather not talk about it…"

"Oh, but how have you been getting by?"

Celeste glanced at Eevee before answering tentatively, "My…aunt and uncle took me in. They live in Castelia." Eevee nodded; Celeste had revealed enough already. The rest really was better left unsaid. "They…they said I could go on my journey whenever I felt ready," Celeste continued, falling into step with her story. "So I eventually started on my way to the lab in Nuvema Town to see the professor there, like they suggested. But I didn't actually feel ready—I just didn't want them to worry. So I stopped in this city…" Celeste trailed off, and an uncomfortable silence filled the space her voice had occupied just moments ago. She stared down at her stew, worrying that she should've said more, or provided some means of transitioning to a different topic.

"So what do you plan to do now?" Joan asked after a moment.

Celeste cracked a relieved smile, grateful that Joan hadn't pressed any further. "I didn't know what I was going to do at first," she admitted softly. "But then you suggested using my earnings to travel to a different region… I think I'd like that."

"Oh that's wonderful, dearie," Joan said, a warm smile gracing her countenance. "I'm glad I could help." Celeste nodded, following suit as Joan returned to eating her stew.

_I could use all the help I can get,_ she thought with a sigh.

* * *

"Well here we are again," Celeste said aloud. She walked up the stairs to the restaurant, stopping before the door. "It's always such a pleasure," she murmured, cuddling Eevee closely. With a little more hesitance than she would ever admit, Celeste pulled open the door and stepped inside.

Everything looked the same as it had when she'd left it, not that she'd expected any less. Except Jenny wasn't at the counter—she was probably in the break room since lunch had just finished. Celeste walked around the empty dining room, wondering where to go first. Eevee pawed at her arm, pointing over at the door that led to the gym. Celeste nodded, thinking it as good a place as any to start, and pushed the door open just wide enough to slip inside.

"Pansear, Flame Burst!"

"Dodge it, quick!"

The Snivy used her vines to push herself into the air, streaks of fire shooting past below her. Her trainer cheered, until she noticed stray embers from the bursting flames had caught on Snivy's vines. Snivy squealed in horror, panicking as she waved her vines around, trying to put out the fire before it spread.

Chili pumped his fist, a triumphant grin plastered on his face. "Pansear, Bite onto the vines and yank 'em down!"

Pansear leapt up and clamped his teeth down on the vines, immediately following up by grabbing on with his paws. Snivy wrapped her vines around his wrists in an attempt to fulfill her trainer's desperate command to use Wrap, but Pansear blew flames on the vines and yanked them downward, sending Snivy crashing to the ground.

"Senna!" her trainer called out. "Senna, get up!" Senna's eyes snapped open and she rolled to the side just in time to dodge another bite. Pansear landed on the ground and smirked.

"You're still up," he said. "Cool."

Senna grinned. "Aren't you Fire type?" She thrust her vines at him at her trainer's command, but Pansear dodged the attack deftly.

"So? Chili's the one with the fire motif, not me—oof!" He fell face first into the ground with a thud, tripped up by a vine. Growling, he pushed himself up to his feet—and was quickly swept up by a whirlwind of leaves, sending him spinning dizzily to the far side of the field. Senna took the moment to use Growth, preparing for a stronger Leaf Tornado, but was caught off guard by another round of bursting flames.

"Now Incinerate!" Chili yelled.

"Leaf Tornado!"

The two attacks collided in a cloud of smoke at the center of the field, the smell of burning foliage wafting over to the opposing trainers standing at the far edges. A light coughing came from the entrance way near the center of the field, and Chili raised an eyebrow. He squinted to see through the smoke, but it cleared away soon enough, revealing a thin figure clad in blue, her head buried in a brown ball of fur in an attempt to stop herself from coughing.

Chili's eyes grew wide. "Celeste?"

"Senna, use Vine Whip to grab Pansear!"

Before Chili could react, the Snivy had followed through her trainer's command, wrapping her slender vines around Pansear and lifting him up into the air to swing him around in a circle; her trainer wanted the Fire-type dizzier than a Spinda.

"Pansear, get outta there!" Chili yelled. He gritted his teeth. "Incinerate!"

"Serve it!"

"Serve—?" Chili watched, horrified, as the Snivy tossed Pansear up into the air, sending his Incinerate shooting away from the vines—which snapped right back and smacked Pansear from above, sending him smashing straight down into the field below.

"Yes!" the girl cheered. "And you thought training with tennis was stupid, Senna!"

"I guess I was wrong," Senna chuckled, rubbing her collar-like leaf ashamedly. Turning her attention back to her opponent, she took a few steps to the side to get a better look at his face; his eyes were screwed shut and he was scowling angrily, but he didn't look like he'd be standing back up anymore.

"Pansear?" Chili called to his Pokémon. He looked over at Cress to see him slowly beginning to raise his hand.

"W-wait…"

Senna stepped back, getting into a defensive position as she watched Pansear push himself back onto his feet. She readied her vines for a quick escape, but the only move Pansear made next was to turn away from her.

"Eevee!" he called out to what looked like a brown fluff ball on the sidelines, who seemed just as surprised at the action as everyone else in the room. He raised an arm to wave at it, wincing as he did so. "Long—ah—l-long time no see!" With a grunt, he collapsed onto the battlefield, completely tuckered out.

Cress, suddenly remembering his obligation as referee, was the first one to speak up. Clearing his throat, he pronounced, "Pansear is unable to battle. This battle's winner is challenger Lizzy!"

"We won!" Lizzy cheered as she went over to her Snivy. "That sure was interesting!" Senna hoisted herself up by her vines to sit on her trainer's shoulder. "Huh? You don't want in your ball yet?" Lizzy asked, perplexed. Senna shook her head, but it only made Lizzy pout. "I know you have good endurance, but you really need to rest." She held a Poké Ball up to the Snivy, who frowned at it for a moment before pressing the button, returning herself inside in a flash of red light.

"You did good, Pansear," Chili muttered to his own Pokémon's Poké Ball. "Get some rest." He pressed the button on the front, reverting the ball to pocket size and returning it to his pocket, before going up to meet his challenger. "You really caught me off guard with the serving," he said, shaking her hand.

"You thought I meant serving dishes or something, huh?" Lizzy giggled.

"Pretty much," he shrugged.

Cilan came over with Cress to give the girl her badge, and after asking for directions to Nacrene City, she thanked the gym leaders for their time—"And the lunch! Oh my gosh that was delicious!"—and ran out of the gym, waving back at the triplets cheerfully as the door shut behind her.

"That was a pretty cool battle, Chili." Celeste walked up to them with a shy smile, Eevee following closely at her heels. "You did really well."

Chili grinned unsurely. "Thanks." He thought he'd lost pretty badly. He could probably even blame Celeste for it, for distracting him at a critical moment. But he actually wasn't all that bent up about his loss. He was just glad she was back.

There was a short silence as the group stood around awkwardly. Celeste, because she was trying to figure out the right thing to say; the triplets, because there were so many things they wanted to say that they didn't know where to start. Cress, ever-prepared, decided on a better course of action. Before Celeste could protest—as he knew she was liable to do—he embraced her in a tight hug. She immediately stiffened—as he figured she would—so he kept it brief.

"We missed you," he said as he let go. "Where were you?"

"You m-missed me?" stammered Celeste, blushing in embarrassment.

"Well yeah we missed you!" Chili exclaimed, using Cress' hug as an excuse to hug Celeste himself. "We thought you'd never come back!"

Celeste laughed nervously. "R-really? I-I just had a cold, that's all." She stumbled backwards a bit once Chili let go, trying to regain her composure. "I-I, uh, went out for a walk when it was raining that one day."

Cilan chuckled. "I didn't know you were such a daredevil."

Celeste rubbed her head shamefully; she'd half-expected him to hug her, too, and was grateful when he kept his distance. "I didn't either. But…" She glanced down at Eevee standing by her feet, and the Pokémon tilted her head curiously. "Did you really think I'd never come back?"

"It…may have passed our minds, on occasion," muttered Cress. He shot an icy glare at Chili, who put his hands up in defense. Cress sighed; he'd been hoping Celeste would disregard Chili's statement, or at the very least, simply refrain from bringing it up. "But certainly you're well aware of how farfetched one's imagination can get, Celeste."

Celeste nodded, putting on a smile. "Oh, of course. I can only imagine what else yours might've come up with if I hadn't come today. That was by Tia's suggestion, by the way. I saw her at the store yesterday, and she said she wanted to introduce me to your new workers."

"Yes, she told us," Cress chuckled. "She arrived early today."

"She even brought Maxwell with her," Cilan said.

"They're all in the break room," Chili said. "Come on."

As Celeste followed the triplets out of the gym, she couldn't help but feel like they'd skipped over something important in their conversation. Eevee gave her a questioning look, but she only shook her head, giving a small smile in response. The brothers weren't the only ones who'd missed them; Pansear had missed Eevee too. She'd found it really touching the way he had waved to Eevee like that before passing out. But the brothers hadn't mentioned it at all. It was a troublesome thought for Celeste—it only meant they'd missed her more than they wanted to admit. She didn't think the triplets would've even had that much time to miss her in the first place, being as busy as they were. She felt bad for managing to worry them so much, but it still seemed strange. She'd never really been missed before though, so maybe it was just in her head.

When they reached the break room, Celeste was immediately greeted by Jenny and Tia, the latter giving her a quick squeeze before pulling her over to meet Alexis and Vic. Though Celeste found it strange that Vic wore two hats at once, as per Sheila's request for a "_peaceful_ break, thank you very much", she was spared his usual rap performance, and so he left a good impression on her. Alexis fared likewise, and although Celeste found her height and boisterous nature intimidating, all was well until she stopped cuddling Eevee and started patting Celeste on the head instead, pronouncing her similarities to "an adorable flower with the way she's wilting!" Fortunately, Maxwell got her to stop before Celeste could be any further humiliated, and Jenny soon whisked her out of the room with the excuse that she'd left something at the receptionist desk the last time she'd been there.

"Better?" Jenny asked. Celeste nodded shakily. "Good. Now wait just a second, alright?" Jenny stepped back into the break room, leaving Celeste alone in the hallway with Eevee. She held her Pokémon close.

"That went a lot quicker than I'd expected," she said; she'd kind of hoped to stay a while longer. "Then again," she reminded herself with a chuckle, "that wasn't at all what I'd been expecting." She leaned against the wall. "I'm used to seeing you get fussed over," she told Eevee. "Not me." She smiled as Eevee licked her face. "I don't know how you do it."

The door to the break room opened once more and Jenny came out with the triplets behind her. "Looks like you're all set, Celeste. My excuses always work," she smiled. "But you three really do have something waiting at the counter for you. That wasn't an excuse," she told the triplets. "You've got mail."

* * *

"Did Jenny not say there were only a few bills?" Cress sighed, tearing open another envelope. "Water, electric, cable and internet… Goodness that's about everything."

"Well I did get my magazine," Cilan beamed at him from his side of the couch.

"Your geeky railfan stuff?" Chili scoffed. "That's nothing! You see this?" He brandished a leaflet triumphantly. "Donut Joe's just came up with a new flavor! Ooh and a new iced coffee," he said, leaning back into the recliner to read the back of the flyer.

"H-hey, I like trains," Cilan said defensively. "That's not a bad thing. …Is it?"

"It's certainly not anything worse than Chili's unhealthy obsession with donuts," Cress stated nonchalantly.

Celeste smiled to herself as Chili started to bicker on about how foolish Cress was to underestimate the powers of a good donut. She settled herself into the armchair she was seated in and nuzzled Eevee with her nose. She gazed around the living room curiously; there were various picture frames hung up on the maroon walls and atop of the fireplace ledge. Most had photos of the triplets, but a few of them showed the faces of a man and a woman—their parents, she assumed, though she'd never seen them around. As far as she could tell from where she was seated, the man had a crop of gold for hair, while the woman's was a deep shade of violet. Celeste furrowed her eyebrows, trying to figure out how gold and purple made red, green, and blue. Unfortunately, she neither knew enough about genetics nor color theory to work it out, so she contented herself with simply thinking how nice the pair looked before moving on to dwell on the feeling of being surrounded by softness. She closed her eyes, listening to the rustling of papers as the brothers filed through their mail, before the quiet was interrupted by a sharp gasp.

"It's this weekend!?" Cilan exclaimed. He held the magazine up to his face, his eyes scanning across the page, filling with dread. "I thought it was next weekend!"

"Cilan, whatever are you talking about?"

"Yeah, don't just leave us guessing."

"The Nimbasa Subway Convention," Cilan answered his brothers anxiously. "I wanted to go this time."

"We could go on Sunday, if it really means that much to you," Cress said.

"By 'we' you mean not me, right?" Chili whispered to him. The blue-haired triplet only rolled his eyes.

"B-but it says the new subway boss and subway master are only going to be there on Saturday," Cilan whined. "It's the first time since the inauguration of the subway system that there's been a new boss and master at the same time. And they're actually related too! Brothers! And meeting people as important and busy as them...it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" He stood before his brothers clutching the magazine tightly in his hands, a look of desperation on his face. "We have to go on Saturday!"

"Cilan, we kinda run a restaurant on Saturdays, if you haven't noticed," Chili said wryly.

"And you can't go by yourself because we still need you." Cress gave his brother an apologetic frown. "I'm sorry but that's the way it has to be."

"B-But…" Cilan's face fell. His hopes and dreams were dying right before his eyes. What had he done to deserve this? He slumped to the ground dejectedly. No, it couldn't end like that. There had to be some way. "C-Celeste, don't you think I should go?" He pouted up at her from his place on the floor, but she could only stare blankly at him, stammering incoherently.

Unlike Cilan's brothers, who were entirely unfazed by his melodramatic display, Celeste had no idea what to make of it. She'd never seen him so...excited before. _Excited is an understatement, _she told herself. Regardless, his fate was in her hands now. Not wanting to disappoint him, she turned to Chili and Cress to make an effort. "Couldn't you make an exception this one time?" she pleaded. "You have more workers now, don't you?"

"Oh Celeste, not you too…" Chili groaned, burying his face in his hands; Celeste's big Deerling eyes were so cute it hurt to look at them.

"We really can't," Cress told Celeste simply, better able to resist her gaze. "We may have more workers, but please keep in mind that they are waitstaff, not chefs, and therefore would not very much make for suitable substitutions in Cilan's absence."

"Oh…" Celeste lowered her head in defeat. That was the only card she had to play. She didn't even think she needed another one. _I wasn't very helpful at all,_ she sighed. Eevee nudged at her arm, gazing up at her with concern. "No, Eevee, it's alright," Celeste murmured, petting the Pokémon on her head. "I guess it can't be helped." Cilan had gone to her for help and she'd failed him. She couldn't bear to see the devastated look on his face. "I'm sorry, Cilan… I tried my best, but I guess it wasn't good enough." She cast her eyes to the ground, feeling tears welling up in the back. "I guess once-in-a-lifetime opportunities really aren't that important… And I was so sure Chili and Cress would be able to handle the kitchen for just one day without you, but I guess I was wrong…"

Cress rubbed his temples. _Ah, Celeste, why must you make me feel so guilty?_ he lamented. All logic and reasoning said Cilan couldn't go on Saturday. They simply couldn't afford to be one chef short on such a busy day. But the way Celeste was acting made him feel like the villain. He grimaced; he absolutely abhorred that feeling. Perhaps they could spare him a day. Celeste certainly seemed to have enough confidence in their ability to manage without him.

"Alright," he conceded at last. "You can go, Cilan."

Cilan immediately jumped to his feet. "Really!?"

"Yes, but not on your own, mind you." Cress shook his head. "Really, you should be ashamed of yourself. You need to stop doing…_that_."

Cilan laughed nervously, running a hand through his hair. "R-right," he muttered. "I guess I, er, got a little…carried away. Sorry."

"Yeah and you carried Celeste away with you," Chili frowned. "Seriously, how are we supposed to say no to you, Celeste?"

"Sorry…" she mumbled.

"Nah, don't be," Chili grinned. "Just watch where you flash those headlights. You could really blind someone with those." Celeste frowned quizzically, not really understanding what he meant. He laughed. "Never mind."

"So Celeste, would you go with me?" Cilan asked. "You might not, uh, find the convention all that interesting, but there are lots of other things to do in the city."

"Sure," Celeste said. "I don't…mind." It occurred to her that she might be pushing her luck going to Nimbasa City. What if somebody saw her?

"Is, er, something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine," Celeste beamed. She'd figure something out. What were the chances of meeting someone she knew anyway?


	13. Subconscious Notions

**Chapter 13: Subconscious Notions**

"HEY CILANTRO, YOU'RE GONNA MISS YOUR TRAIN!"

Cress shot Chili a menacing glare, his hands pressed firmly against his ears. "Chili, please!" he hissed. "Don't _do_ that!"

Chili smirked. "You're overreacting. Look," he gestured, "Celeste is just fine."

Celeste put a hand to her cheek. "W-well not exactly…"

"I'm here!" Cilan called out as he ran over to them. "S-sorry," he gasped. "I was…trying…to find…my hat…" He held it up wearily as he tried to catch his breath, and when Chili plucked it out of his hand, he was too tired to protest.

Twirling the newsboy cap on his finger, Chili asked, "Why do you even need a hat anyway?"

"Just in case," Cilan said.

"Ugh." Chili pushed the hat down over Cilan's eyes. "That's the second time we've heard that answer. You're getting stale, Cilantro." Cilan groaned, taking the hat off and fixing it back on the right way. He really wished Chili wouldn't call him that.

"Cilantro?" Celeste repeated. His head shot up at the word, and his cheeks immediately colored when he heard his brothers snickering beside him. He lowered his head in defeat. He _really_ wished he wasn't so used to being called that.

Cress nodded. "That's what our mother named him after," he told Celeste.

"But Cilan doesn't sound like cilantro…" she murmured.

Chili gave a dismissive wave. "Details, details."

Celeste nodded unsurely, the brim of her hat flopping over her eyes. So their parents really _had _named them after food. It certainly was…_interesting,_ she thought, readjusting her hat.

"Wait why are you wearing a hat?" asked Cilan suddenly. Celeste blinked at him for a moment, until Chili's teasing comment of "Slooowpoke" snapped her out of her stupor and an embarrassed blush lit her cheeks.

"Just in case," she chuckled, repeating her excuse for Cilan's benefit.

"The very same reason as you," Cress told Cilan.

_If your reason is not to be recognized, that is,_ Celeste thought, giving Cilan a sympathetic smile.

Once they were all set, Chili and Cress led them out of the restaurant to watch them off. Cilan and Celeste waved back at them cheerily.

"See you later!" Chili called after them.

"Best wishes!" Cress beamed. "You two have fun!" He glanced over at Chili to see he'd put his hands on his hips and was giving him a scornful look.

"Seriously?" he asked drily. Cress put on a perplexed expression. "Never mind," Chili muttered. The way Cress had said that, it was almost as if Cilan and Celeste were going on a date. _Urgh,_ he grimaced. _How cheesy would that be?_ Taking her to a convention? About _trains_? He shook his head incredulously. _Note to self, take Celeste to get donuts tomorrow. _A chuckle snapped Chili out of his thoughts.

"You are too easy," Cress said, shaking his head. As expected, his remark had managed to thoroughly unnerve his hotheaded triplet. Realizing he'd been had, Chili huffed, stomping back into the restaurant.

"You only say that because you have a type advantage."

* * *

Celeste's head swiveled around as she tried to take in the sight of the large underground tunnel, with all its people and posters and strange money machines. "I didn't know there was a train station in the city," she spoke, staring up at the ceiling. Cilan grinned at her display.

"I guess you haven't been this far east," he said. "This is where the Orange line starts—Striaton to Nimbasa. Oh, you can go first," he added, gesturing at the turnstile before them. "I already paid for you." Celeste regarded the turnstile with surprise for a moment before pushing her way through with some difficulty.

"Um… Should I have brought money?" she asked, watching regretfully as Cilan paid for himself before coming through.

"No, it's fine," he smiled. "You're doing this as a favor to me, after all."

From the gate they walked out onto the platform, where people were already milling around in wait for the train. _I wonder how long we'll have to wait this time,_ Cilan thought halfheartedly, taking a cursory glance up at the electronic message board. _Huh. 10:38…_

_…10:38!?_ Cilan did a double-take, immediately perking up. "The train will be here in just a few minutes," he said aloud, more surprised than he'd intended to sound.

Celeste beamed, pleased to hear it. "That's really good timing, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah," said Cilan. Much better than he'd ever managed before; he'd always arrived just a little too late to catch the train before it left the station. In fact, it happened so often he'd considered aiming to catch the train _before_ the one he actually needed. But he'd never gone through with that plan; he'd always been hopeful that one day he would manage to improve. _Either things finally worked out, _he thought, _or Celeste has enough good timing for the both of us._ He glanced over at her—she was peering down the tunnel curiously. He supposed either reason would do.

While Cilan was busy mulling over his timing issues, Celeste swayed back and forth, gazing longingly down the dark tunnel. An echo would sound amazing in there, she was sure of it. The platform itself seemed like it would make a good echo too. _If only Eevee could see this._ But the brothers had told her beforehand that it would be easier to travel if she kept Eevee in her ball. _Still… _Celeste pouted. She'd really like to test out the acoustics, and if Eevee were there she could bark and no one would question it. If Celeste tried something similar she'd never get away with it. _Not that I could bring myself to try in the first place,_ she reminded herself. Maybe if the platform was completely empty. But that was probably a rare occurrence.

A distant rumbling snapped Celeste out of her thoughts, and her eyes focused on the two bright headlights that blinked into view from within the dark tunnel. A wail reverberated through the station as train cars ran past on the tracks in a rush of wind, and Celeste had to hold her hat down so it wouldn't get blown away. She watched, unblinking, a sequence of steel siding and glowing windows playing across her eyes, growing slower and slower before coming to a halt. The train doors glided open with a quiet whir, and Celeste and Cilan followed the bustle of passengers aboard, taking two seats by a window on the platform side. After a short moment, a cheery dinging noise sounded from above, the doors slid shut, and a rumbling started up again as the train began to move. Celeste leaned close to the window, and the scene outside gradually blended into a blur of colors before her eyes, before cutting to the pitch black of the tunnel, leaving her staring at her reflection. In this darker, mirrored version of the train compartment, she saw Cilan lean over and look at her curiously.

"Is this your first time on a subway?" his reflection asked with a hint of amusement.

Celeste turned to Cilan with a shameful grin. "I guess it's pretty obvious, huh?" With a small laugh she added, "I'm going to a convention I know nothing about."

"That's good news!" Cilan beamed. "There are so many things to show you! I was, uh, actually kind of worried that you would get bored… But anyone who can be so mystified by a train arriving at the station should enjoy it really well!" Celeste's face froze. She was clearly embarrassed that someone had seen her so awed by something most of the other people on the platform had watched with indifference. "Er, don't worry," Cilan said. "I'm pretty sure I was the only one who saw that. And your hat was kind of in the way, too." The statement seemed to work for Celeste, as she settled back into her seat with a satisfied smile on her face; at least she could be content that her hat was working as she'd hoped.

* * *

Celeste's eyes grew wide as the train approached the next platform—there were so many people. She'd never seen such a large crowd in such a small space before, especially not all moving about in waves like the sea. She was relieved that Eevee was safe in her ball. Keeping her there really was a good idea after all.

"It's not too hard to navigate the crowd," Cilan reassured her when she expressed her doubts to him. "You don't get, um, lost easily, do you? Just, uh, follow me. We'll be through in no time. Really." Celeste nodded, tailing close behind as he began to lead her off the platform.

About halfway to the main hall, a berserk duffle bag swung around and pushed Celeste aside, sending her stumbling into the person next to her. She spun around apologize, only to find the stranger already gone. And when she turned back, Cilan was gone too. She felt her heartbeat quicken for a moment at the thought of being lost, so she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _It's alright,_ she told herself. All she had to do was follow the flow of traffic on her side of the platform. Her mind set, she continued her way toward the exit, searching for the green tufts of Cilan's hair sticking out from underneath his hat as she weaved through the mazelike crowd. The throng of commuters soon thinned out, and Celeste walked out into a large circular atrium.

The room clamored with the busy sounds of footsteps clacking against the polished floor tiles; train chimes bouncing off the stone walls; and hundreds of voices mingling as people congregated around the hall's large stone pillars. And in the center stood the largest pillar of all, sporting three suitably-sized clocks around it, an information desk spanning its entire perimeter. It was so…grand. It would have to be, as the central station of Unova. Central stations were always quite grand.

"There you are!" Cilan exclaimed, running up behind her. While she'd been admiring the scenery, he'd been freaking out trying to find her.

"Really?" asked Celeste, her eyes growing wide. "Oh I'm sorry! I didn't mean to worry you!"

"W-well, it's alright!" Cilan added quickly before she could get worried about worrying him. "You seem to know your way around crowds more than I do anyway, so that means I can worry less, right?"

Celeste tilted her head. She wasn't too sure about that. But seeing the pleased smile on Cilan's face made it difficult not to smile herself. "I suppose so."

* * *

The Nimbasa Convention Center was only a few blocks away from Gear Station, and within a matter of minutes Cilan and Celeste were standing in line to get their tickets. The line was much longer than Celeste had thought it would be; she hadn't expected a convention about trains to draw so many people. There seemed to be quite a few Pokémon standing in line with their trainers too.

"Cilan, do you think I can let out Eevee now?" Celeste asked.

"Uh, sure, I guess," Cilan said.

With a huge smile on her face, Celeste plucked Eevee's ball from her pocket and released the Normal-type into the lobby.

"Vee!" Eevee called, hopping up and down as she examined her surroundings. There were so many people everywhere! And so many other Pokémon, too. She let out a contented sigh; it was so nice to be somewhere different for once.

"Why do you like to keep Eevee out of her ball so often?"

Eevee's ears pricked up at the question, and she looked up at Cilan, confused. Was it weird to be out of her ball so much?

"There's not…really a reason," Celeste answered, thinking it over in her head. "I just try to keep her out as often as I can."

"Does Eevee not like being in her ball?" asked Cilan, looking down at the Pokémon. Eevee shook her head; that wasn't it at all. She didn't mind being in her ball, but she did like being out of it. Celeste conveyed those sentiments to Cilan, and when he nodded, Eevee nodded along, considering that thread of conversation finished. At least, until Cilan asked, "Do you think Poké Balls are bad?"

Celeste opened her mouth to speak when she was suddenly struck by the significance of his question. An unsettled expression settled on her face, and she asked quietly, "What do you mean?"

Cilan blinked; he hadn't expected her to question his question. "W-well… Do you, um, think that using Poké Balls is, uh…wrong in any way?" When Celeste only shook her head, a puzzled look on her face, he let out a dismissive—and relieved—laugh. "Of course not! I just, er, heard something like that once and thought maybe I'd ask you about it." He put a hand on his chin musingly. "It might've been a dream, now that I think about it. Oh well! We're next to get our tickets!"

Cilan promptly busied himself paying for their tickets, turning his back to Celeste. Unobserved, she allowed her face to settle back into worry. How had he come up with a question like that? Where would he hear anything about Poké Balls being bad? _I'm probably just overthinking it,_ she told herself sadly. _Yes, that must be it._ It was best not to worry about it—they were there to have fun, after all. Taking a breath, she pushed the thought to the back of her mind, gathered Eevee into her arms, and followed Cilan into the main hall.

"Welcome to SubCon! Welcome to SubCon! Enjoy your stay! Welcome to SubCon!" rang various voices around the room. The hall buzzed with activity. Throngs of train-lovers chattered excitedly as they wandered about through the various exhibits and events taking place in the branching corridors; flags and posters adorned the walls in an array of colors and patterns; and the vague scent of sub sandwiches wafted over from a vendor somewhere to the right.

Cilan gazed around the hall with an eager glint in his eyes. "There's even more here than I thought there'd be!" He chuckled. "I actually don't know where to start."

"Do you think they have some kind of schedule?" Celeste asked, surveying the room curiously as they walked along.

"They should…"

"Vee!"

"There!" Celeste mimicked Eevee's motions and pointed over at what looked to be a large, electronic timetable, much like the ones they'd seen in the train station. She giggled. "I guess we should've known they would have a timetable."

The timetable was a previous one used in Gear Station, explained a receptionist when they walked over. Instead of displaying arrivals and departures, it had the schedule of events and exhibits set up around the hall. In addition to times and locations, it also showed whether the events were delayed or on time. Celeste supposed that made sense, but it still seemed a bit strange.

"You wanted to see the new…subway masters, right?" she asked, her eyes scanning the board for the title.

"Well only one of them is a subway master," Cilan informed her cheerily. "The other one is the new subway boss. There's a big difference. The subway boss is in charge of running the trains, while the subway master is in charge of maintaining the subway system."

"Oh." That did make sense. "Well it says they have…an interview panel?" She directed Cilan's gaze to an event on the board. She wasn't sure what it meant by panel, but Cilan nodded in understanding.

"That starts about an hour from now," he said. "That means we have some time to look around at everything else! But I still don't know where to start..."

"Do you want to maybe go in order?" Celeste suggested.

"Good idea!"

Around the hall, there were exhibits that had everything from actual fully-refurbished train cars to conductors' uniforms throughout the years to photographs and tiny models of subway stations from long ago. The models were one of Eevee's favorite exhibits; she felt like a Wailord in comparison to the tiny people set up inside the display. The only thing she liked more were the model train sets—everything moved in those, and the trains even made funny noises. Her favorite train was the one with the little Joltik sitting at the front—he looked like he was having a lot of fun. And she really liked how they'd given everyone conductor's hats—not only did they look cool, but it was just funny seeing Celeste and Cilan have to hide the hats they were already wearing under their newly-received ones. Cilan was glad for it though; a conductor's hat was much more fitting at SubCon than his detective cap.

Cilan's favorite exhibit was the one on the evolution of the subway—starting with its origins as a simple railroad, steam trains and all. He really appreciated it for that. Although he had to admit, the displays on the train cars' inner workings were pretty fascinating too.

As for Celeste, she found a showcase called "Sounds of the Underground" that had everything from the different bell tolls from the clocks in Gear Station to the different chimes that played when the train doors opened and closed. The room even featured a band that played in the station on Tuesdays and Thursdays that had firsthand experience with how amazing the acoustics in the tunnels were. She would've liked to stay and listen to them longer—she'd never seen castanets before, and enjoyed watching that one band member dance around while playing them—but it was about time for them to head over to the panel.

When they reached the panel room, they found a large crowd blocking the doors, with everyone trying to stuff themselves inside.

"Oh my," Celeste said. "I guess a lot of people really want to see the new…subway master and boss." She frowned; that was a bit of a mouthful to say.

"Well you have to remember it's the first time since the subway started that both of them are new." Cilan scratched his head. "It's also the first time two people that are related are in charge. I guess you could say they're pretty different."

"Different…" Celeste nodded thoughtfully. With little else to do, she allowed her mind to wander as they waited to get inside. She caught bits and pieces of conversations going on around her, but she didn't pay them much attention until a particular thread caught her interest.

"I heard Grings Kodai had them made."

"But why would he do that? To take control of the subway system and expand his network somehow?"

"Maybe…"

"Hah, that's nothing. You know that Frontier Brain Thorton from Sinnoh? I heard he _made_ them."

"Hey I heard that! But did you hear that Elesa is in on it, too?"

"Oh yeah. She's like their mechanic or something."

"Elesa's a model, not a mechanic."

"Hey she's a gym leader! Why not a mechanic?"

Celeste blinked. What were they talking about? She turned to Cilan and tapped him lightly on the shoulder, asking, "Cilan, how much do you know about the new subway master and boss?" Cilan put a hand on his chin.

"To be honest, not that much. As far as I can tell, nobody does. The magazine said this is their first public appearance." He looked around the crowd for a moment before adding quietly, "I, uh, guess some rumors have started going around."

"You heard that too?"

"It's hard not to," Cilan frowned. "I've been hearing rumors all day, but I'm starting to think this one's the worst. It's the one I hear the most."

"What are they implying?" Celeste asked, petting Eevee to comfort herself.

"Well…" Cilan rubbed his neck nervously. "They're implying that they're—"

"Robots. I believe they're implying that we're robots."

Celeste jumped up in surprise, stumbling backwards into the owner of the new voice. She spun around to face him—only to find herself staring at his tie. Feeling unnerved and greatly intimidated, she took a step back before peering up at him. Her gaze fell upon a pair of gray eyes hidden beneath the shadow of a hat, but to her surprise they didn't look intimidating at all. They looked…

"Lonely," Celeste muttered. The man stepped back and gave her an incredulous look. It was his turn to be unnerved.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"Y-your eyes look…" Celeste cast her gaze to the ground, her sentence trailing off as an ashamed blush rose up in her cheeks. "S-sorry," she murmured, taking a step back. "I'm sorry…"

"Ingo? Brother?"

Ingo turned to his brother, who stood watching him curiously. "It's nothing," he answered. He peered around at the other people in the crowd to see if anyone else had heard the strange girl. It appeared not; everyone had been busy shuffling away to give him and Emmet room to pass through. "So I take it you didn't hear her either," he murmured, keeping in step with his twin as they entered the room.

"Nope!" Emmet beamed. "I was too busy thinking about life as a teenage robot."

"…We're not even teens, Emmet," Ingo frowned.

"So? We're robots, right?" Emmet winked at his brother, who put a hand to his head and sighed.

"Emmet…"

"So what did she say?"

While Ingo was glad to abandon the topic of robots, he wasn't sure the next was any better. "Well," he began uncertainly, "I think…she said my eyes looked lonely. I can't say I understood what she meant by that." Emmet gave him a funny look.

"She really said that?" Emmet grinned. "Weird. How could we be lonely when we have each other? That's silly." Ingo nodded knowingly. Despite his brother's nearly ever-present smile, he could hear the hint of concern in his voice. "Which girl did you say it was?"

"I didn't," Ingo replied tersely. "Don't look back for her now. We need to start the panel."

"Point her out when we get on stage?"

"Maybe. If you can be subtle."

Emmet laughed. "Of course, big brother. When am I not?"


	14. Scratching the Surface

**Chapter 14: Scratching the Surface**

Cilan froze when Celeste jumped up in surprise and stumbled backwards into Ingo. She spun around to face him, and the man regarded her with displeasure, irked to have overheard yet another person calling him and his brother robots. Cilan clenched his fingers anxiously, debating whether to speak up and apologize, when Ingo suddenly jerked back from Celeste, an incredulous look on his face. He exchanged a few words with her before she lowered her head and stepped away from him, after which Emmet came up behind Ingo and the two continued on their way.

Cilan blinked, turning around to see Celeste huddled up behind him. "What happened?"

"Nothing." She smiled awkwardly, holding a hand up to her reddened cheeks. "Just…a little embarrassed…"

Cilan nodded sympathetically. "I can imagine. It felt awkward for me too," he admitted. "It's still cool that you got to talk to him though," he continued. "Maybe, er, not under the best circumstances…b-but still!"

Celeste chuckled at Cilan's optimism. "I guess so."

_I guess it was best I didn't say anything else, _she thought. _I'm sure he got the idea… _Eevee nudged at Celeste's hand, and Celeste peered down at the Pokémon to find her frowning quizzically. Celeste patted her on the head. "Wait until we sit down ok? We'll collect my thoughts together."

* * *

"Hey there! Is everyone enjoying themselves? Come on, let me hear you cheer!" The interviewer held her mic out to the audience, which chorused excitedly. "Great! It's the biggest SubCon yet, you know! And we're honored to have two very esteemed guests with us today! Twins Ingo and Emmet, your brand new subway heads!" The crowd cheered loudly once more, but Ingo only scoffed.

_Esteemed, she says._ It certainly didn't feel that way. "Remind me again why we agreed to do this," he muttered to Emmet, who to his chagrin was waving enthusiastically at the audience.

"You didn't! I did!" Emmet grinned. "How's that for your answer?" Ingo grunted. "Aw, come on, brother," Emmet pouted. "We had to do this eventually."

"I guess."

"So before we get on to the questions, could you two clarify something for us?"

"No," Ingo muttered.

"Of course!" Emmet beamed. "But you've just asked a question." The interviewer laughed.

"So I did. In that case, I'm about to ask another. Something I've been wondering for a while, as I'm sure everyone else has! Which one of you is the actual subway master?"

Ingo and Emmet shared a look between themselves before turning back to the interviewer and pointing at each other. "He is," they said simultaneously.

The interviewer blinked, unsure how to take the answer. "But which one of you is the subway boss?"

Emmet and Ingo pointed at themselves. "I am."

The interviewer's face contorted into a flummoxed expression, and Emmet couldn't prevent himself from laughing. "Oh I'm sorry!" he apologized through his laughter. He wiped a tear from his eye, and even Ingo cracked a self-satisfied smirk; Emmet had really been looking forward to making that joke, and Ingo had to admit it brought wondrous results. "Allow me to explain," Emmet began. "We both are both! It wouldn't be fair for one of us to have more power than the other! We are twins, after all." A collective murmur spread out through the audience, and Ingo tensed in his chair. No longer free to revel in their confusion, he wondered warily what they were whispering amongst themselves.

"What should we call you then?" the interviewer was asking, trying to stay on track. "The Subway Masters or the Subway Bosses?"

"It would depend on the context," Ingo replied brusquely.

"But you can just call us the Subway Bosses if Subway Masters intimidates you too much!" Emmet winked at the interviewer, and she chuckled nervously.

"Right… So let's get on with the interview!"

Though the questions were rather basic, Emmet still enjoyed himself, leaning back in his chair and chuckling whenever he found a question particularly funny. Ingo maintained a serious expression throughout, however. Once or twice he strained a smile, mostly through Emmet's prompting, and a few times he smiled of his own accord, though those too quickly became strained. He let Emmet answer most of the questions, contributing whenever he saw fit. But mostly he was distracted.

_"Your eyes look lonely."_ Ingo frowned to himself. Did he really look lonely? _I highly doubt it,_ he thought drily. It was pure conjecture, nothing more. Nonsense made up just to rattle him—people were often trying to catch him off guard and get some kind of reaction from him. Out of everyone, only Emmet had ever successfully fazed him; Emmet always knew the right—or rather, wrong—thing to say. But somehow that girl had also slipped past his defenses.

Ingo huffed. _I'm not lonely._ As soon as he thought it, he had to wince internally. _Damn it…_ He knew it was a lie, but he needed to reinforce the idea. The best way to deal with the problem was to act like it wasn't one. That way nobody be able to tell. _But that girl still figured it out. _He grimaced. Though he wasn't pleased with the notion, it still intrigued him. Looking out on the audience, he scanned the rows of chairs until he spotted the girl once more, head down, Eevee in her arms. He watched her for a moment, lost in thought, when she lifted her head and caught his eye.

_"I'm sorry…"_ Ingo quickly looked away, directing his attention elsewhere and attempting to calm his nerves before anybody could notice. Emmet chuckled from beside him, and Ingo glanced over to see a mischievous grin on his brother's face.

"Still thinking about what that girl said?" Emmet whispered. Ingo only grunted, refusing to discuss the topic. Emmet shrugged. "Alrighty then." He turned his attention back to the interviewer to front her latest question, and, left to his own devices, Ingo took another peek over at the girl. To his relief, she had turned away again, talking to someone in the seat next to her. He sighed to himself.

_This is ridiculous,_ he thought bitterly. He just wanted to get back to his office, away from everybody. He wasn't lonely. He was better off alone.

* * *

"Thanks everyone for coming! Enjoy the rest of SubCon!"

The room erupted in raucous chatter as the audience got up and started out the doorway. Only Celeste and Cilan remained seated, deciding it best to wait until the crowd had thinned out. Celeste hummed to herself, stroking Eevee's fur nonchalantly as she watched the throngs of people make their way past their row. Through the drone of the masses, she was able to pick up a few snatches of conversation, but she quickly wished she hadn't.

"They did act pretty weird…" she heard someone mutter unsurely.

"You see? What did I tell you?"

"Definitely robots."

"I guess I can see that…"

"They're so creepy…"

Celeste let out a deep sigh, hugging Eevee close to her. "I feel like their situation only got worse," she murmured regretfully. Cilan lowered his head. He knew that was directed to Eevee, not him—Eevee knew something he didn't. Even so, he knew Celeste was referring to Ingo and Emmet, and his understanding of their situation, however basic, was enough to make him feel the same remorse Celeste did. He thought people would be excited to have two new subway heads at once, especially twins. And they were. But it was almost as if they were an exhibit at the con too.

"I still want to meet them…"

Celeste looked over at Cilan in surprise. "Huh?" A soft blush lighted his cheeks and he began to chuckle. "What's so funny?"

Tugging at his conductors' hat, Cilan repeated, "I still want to meet them. Ingo and Emmet. You got to talk to them. Well actually only Ingo, but still!" He beamed. "Besides, I made a bet with Chili that I'd get their autographs. If I win I don't have to do any cleaning up tonight. And there's a movie airing on television tonight that I've been meaning to see." Holding a hand to his chin, he added, "I can understand if you'd rather not see them…" He looked at Celeste expectantly, and after a moment's consideration, she gave him a bright smile.

"I don't mind. I think it's a good idea." With a light giggle, she added, "Eevee thinks so, too! Right?" Eevee raised a paw to her head as if in salute and let out a supportive bark. "See?"

As soon as the aisles cleared up, Cilan and Celeste began to walk towards the stage. They passed the interviewer on their way over; she was rummaging through her bag to answer her cell phone, whipping it out as soon as she found it.

"Yeah, just finished up my interview," she spoke into the phone. "You were right. Very strange." Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Cilan and Celeste pass by going the other way. She gave them a funny look, shaking her head before turning her attention back to her conversation. "Yeah. Still can't believe you didn't take the job because of a rumor though."

Emmet's left hand poked at Ingo's right. "That wasn't so bad now was it?" he asked when they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"I guess," Ingo frowned.

"It could've been worse."

"Ah. Excellent," he replied wryly. "I would rather not think about that. I'm just glad everyone…" He faltered when he saw Celeste and Cilan walking over to them. "…left."

"Oh hello there!" Emmet grinned in greeting. "Fancy running into you again!" He nudged his brother jokingly as he said this, and Ingo rolled his eyes, shifting away from his twin. He regarded Celeste warily, half-expecting her to mention something else she wasn't supposed to know about him. But she only repeated her same apology from before, bowing slightly as she did so, blush rising in her cheeks.

"So what brings you here?" asked Emmet jovially. "We thought everyone left!"

"Oh! It's because I wanted to get—w-well, uh…" Cilan gulped, chuckling nervously as he felt the weight of the Subway Bosses' gazes on him. "I was just…w-wondering…if I could—" Cilan whipped out a flyer and thrust it out in front of his blushing face. "Could I have your autographs?" he blurted out. He winced at the sound of his voice. He sounded pathetic! The Subway Bosses would never take him seriously like that!

But Cilan couldn't be farther from the truth. His request, however silly it sounded to him, struck a chord with the subway masters. Even Emmet couldn't think up a witty response quickly enough. Stuck in a stupor, the younger twin could only repeat, "Autographs?"

Cilan nodded, lowering the flyer. "Yeah. I think you're really, um, cool… S-so, if you don't mind…" He took out a pen and held it up with the flyer, and the subway masters stared at the two articles for a moment. Cilan began to worry that he'd made a poor decision, but to his delight Ingo took the pen and paper into his hands.

Ingo clicked the pen and held it hovering over the flyer. He wasn't entirely sure what to do with them. Giving autographs was something the celebrities did, not him. "If you could…" Cilan pointed at a spot on the flyer. "Right down there, on the right." Ingo nodded, promptly signing his name on the paper. He stared down at his signature for a moment, wondering vaguely whether something was wrong with it, before handing the paper over to Emmet. The white-clad twin signed the paper without hesitation, but he too paused to survey his signature on the glossy surface of the flyer, hoping it really did look as impressive as he thought it did.

"Here you go!" Emmet beamed, handing back the paper with a flourish. "Is that good?" There was a short silence as Cilan and Celeste stared at the twins' handiwork on the flyer. The brothers tugged on their gloves, waiting anxiously for their approval.

After a moment, Cilan began to nod. "This is…so cool!" He held the flyer up to the ceiling and stared at it in awe. "How do you write like that? Your handwriting is so fancy! I wish I could sign things like that! Thank you so much!" he gushed, his eyes shining with admiration as he looked up at Ingo and Emmet.

Ingo blinked, his mind still trying to process Cilan's excited outburst. "You're...welcome," he said, rubbing his arm humbly. He'd never felt so venerated before. It felt…nice.

"You really like it?" asked Emmet. Cilan nodded enthusiastically, and Emmet had to resist the strong urge to hop up and down in joy.

"Yeah! I was worried that you wouldn't sign it," Cilan admitted. "But this is really cool!"

"Your handwriting is different," Celeste spoke up, smiling at the brothers. "Identical twins aren't entirely identical, huh?"

"Yep!" Emmet grinned. You could say that again!"

Celeste's smile softened. "I could."

Ingo frowned in puzzlement. "I don't believe we got your names."

"Oh, right!" Cilan gave a slight bow and shook hands with the twins. "My name's Cilan! Nice to meet you!"

Mimicking Cilan's actions, Celeste gave a small bow of her own. "My name's Celeste, and this is Eevee." Eevee yipped cheerily, wagging her bushy tail. Emmet gasped, immediately bending over to pet Eevee's back.

"Oh my goodness," he spoke. "It's so cute and fluffy! Ingo, come see!" Before Ingo could protest, Emmet had grabbed him by the wrist and set his hand on Eevee's head. Ingo blushed heavily in embarrassment, but scratched Eevee behind the ears nonetheless.

"It is really fluffy," he said, impressed. He could feel it through his glove. Celeste giggled, and Ingo quickly pulled back his hand, apologizing for his brother's sudden movements and invasion of space.

"It's fine," Celeste said. "She likes to be petted." As if to support this, Eevee nuzzled her head under Emmet's hand before he too lifted it back.

"That's wonderful!" he laughed. "Well, then, where was I? Oh yes! I am Emmet! I am a Subway Boss. I like Double Battles!"

"Emmet, they know that already," Ingo sighed, though he was hard-pressed to really feel exasperated at his brother's quip.

"You knew I liked Double Battles?" Emmet asked the teens with a smirk. "You must be psychic!"

Cilan laughed. "I assure you we're not. I like Triple Battles myself though."

Just then, a grumble sounded from Celeste's stomach. "Not again…" she murmured, her face turning red. In the quiet of the surrounding room, the grumble sounded so much louder than it should have. And they were having such nice conversation, too.

"Oh yeah, it's lunchtime now," Cilan said. "We should go get something to eat." Celeste nodded graciously.

"Well it was nice meeting you!" Emmet said. He poked Ingo's shoulder. "Right, big brother?" Celeste tilted her head curiously, when she suddenly noticed Ingo's eyes staring hard at her from underneath the brim of his cap. After a moment of contemplation, a satisfied grin grew on his face, surprising Celeste more than she knew it should have.

"Right," he smiled. "It was nice meeting you." Celeste blushed, and she quickly looked away.

"Thank you again!" Cilan said, starting to walk away. "See you around!" He waved back at the subway bosses happily, and they returned the gesture.

"That went really well," Cilan effervesced when they'd left the room. Celeste only nodded. "Do you want to go around the city to find something to eat?" Cilan asked her. "We can go to the amusement park after if you'd like."

"Ok," Celeste said. As Cilan began to lead her away, making suggestions on where to get lunch, Celeste lifted her fingers up to touch her cheeks. They were still warm. The thought tickled her pink as a Clefairy.

"Vee?"

Celeste looked down at Eevee. "Yes?" Eevee tilted her head side to side and prodded at the fur on her chest. "Huh?" Eevee repeated the action, and Celeste mimicked her, tilting her head and putting her own hand to her chest. "I don't understa—" Her heart was pounding. Her cheeks colored a deep shade of red, and before she could process the reaction, her mind wandered back to the image of Ingo's smile.

"Is something wrong?" Cilan asked, audibly concerned. "You look a little shocked."

"I-I do?" Celeste shook her head. "It's nothing… I was just…thinking about something." Cilan considered her statement for a moment before nodding slowly. She could tell he wasn't entirely convinced—she was kind of glad for it, so troubled as the situation made her feel. It made her all the more grateful when he turned away and dropped the subject. She breathed a remorseful sigh. "Nothing's wrong," she whispered, trying to reassure herself as much as the Pokémon staring up at her in concern. But something was wrong. And, as much as she didn't want to think about it, she knew exactly what. _Ohh, but it can't be that,_ she pouted. _Not that…_ She could still see them when she closed her eyes. Those dark, gray irises staring out at her, their gaze burned into her mind. It made her heart race. She groaned. _I don't like this. _She didn't like it at all. How could she entertain such an irrational thought? It was inconsequential, of course. But it was the irrationality that really bothered her. _Please be still my beating heart. You're not making any sense…_

As Celeste tried to sort through her conflicting emotions, Eevee watched the growing distress on her face from below. She frowned sadly; she'd seen a look similar to that one before, so she had a vague idea of which two emotions were warring against each other up in Celeste's head. And it worried her. "Just…just don't think about it!" she said, pawing at Celeste's arm. Celeste snapped out of her thoughts and peered down at Eevee.

"Huh?"

Eevee stood up on her hind legs and nuzzled her head under Celeste's chin. "Don't think about it," she repeated. "It's inconsequential, right? It'll be alright if you don't think about it. Distract yourself." She motioned over at Cilan with her ears. "Talk to Cilan! You've been so absorbed in all this emotion stuff, you've kind of been ignoring him. He's being really quiet too. I think you're worrying him." She directed Celeste's attention over to him, and Celeste eyes grew wide with alarm.

He was frowning. He almost never frowned. Celeste's shoulders slumped in shame. She was both ignoring him _and_ making him feel bad for her. _That's not fair,_ she thought guiltily. _Please don't do that…_

"Cilan?"

He perked up and looked over at Celeste in surprise. "Yes?"

"You said there was an amusement park, right?" she asked shyly.

"Ah, yes I did!" he beamed, glad to see she wasn't preoccupied anymore. "It's not that far from here actually," he said, reflecting on this fact for a moment. "Oh!" He snapped his fingers. "We could get lunch there! Entrance _is_ free."

"Could we get ice cream too?"

Cilan blinked. Giving Celeste a puzzled look, he asked, "Isn't it a little chilly for ice cream?"

"Is it?" Celeste asked back. "I didn't think it was ever too cold for ice cream…"

Cilan grinned. "Even when you're standing out in the snow?"

"It won't melt if it's cold outside," Celeste answered cheerfully. "And…" She smiled down at the sidewalk. "I'd like to eat ice cream out in the snow, someday. I think it would be nice… If you're cold on the inside, you won't feel as cold on the outside. A-at least, that's what I think…" A bashful blush lit her cheeks as she trailed of, her eyes trained on the ground. She felt Eevee nudge at her arm, and she shared a brief look with the Pokémon before glancing over at Cilan once more. He had his arms crossed behind his head, a thoughtful smile on his face as he contemplated her proposition for a moment. He cocked his head to the side, a glint of sunlight reflecting off the brim of his hat.

"Maybe Ice-types feel like that, but I'd think it would make you colder," he mused. "But maybe it's different for different people. We should try it out someday. It'll be like an experiment!" He chuckled, pleased by the idea. "But we can get ice cream now, too."

As he continued to talk about potential dining spots, a soft smile grew on Celeste's face. Every now and then when he got excited enough, Cilan would raise his hands out emphatically, only to quickly pull them back in whenever another person passed them on the street. He would smile sheepishly whenever this happened, and Celeste would return his embarrassed expression with a reassuring smile of sympathy. But the more it happened, the less seriously they took it, until at last they had to laugh when it happened again, which earned them funny looks from passersby.

The amusement park was bustling with activity when they reached it—the slight mid-October chill wasn't enough to deter the crowds of people just yet. Music played all over the park, from the bumper cars to the carousel, and vendors selling snacks were dotted around the pavement. Celeste even spotted the ice cream stand on their way through.

"I guess that's where we're going after lunch then," Cilan beamed. "How does pizza sound to you? I've heard Throhtonno's is delicious." Celeste nodded, absolutely delighted by the idea. She hadn't had pizza in years.


End file.
